'He was a monster and it had to be done you know that don't you,' Zaf tells Jo, who having put the heating on is now helping her to tidy up at Harry's, although why isn't obvious given how tidy it is other than the contents of the fridge needs replacing and the linen on the bed needs changing.

'I know but it's not just that.'

'Then what?'

'It's the thought that Ruth's leaving and I won't see her again after this week.'

'Then look on it as an unexpected bonus and a chance to tell her how you feel, because better that than another Mace comes along and their lives are wrecked, plus Ros might not have mentioned it but you can bet she hasn't forgotten the part her father played in trying to get Harry killed or will I forget the expression on Ruth's face when Adam called and asked me to get down to the detention centre because Collingwood was planning some sort of Valhalla.'

'Put like that and the fact that we've got a stable government at the moment, then I suppose from Harry's point of view this is the right time to go.'

'That and the not so small matter that they were both prepared to sacrifice themselves, Harry by glassing Mace and Ruth by stepping into the frame which I'm not sure I could have done in the same situation, but then nobody's ever looked at me the way Ruth does Harry or he her.'

'And the certainty of knowing that someone loves you enough that they will do anything to keep you safe, when at first glance they seemed an unlikely match and despite our gossiping the walk into the sunset with the man of her dreams holding her hand is going to happen.'

'What's going to happen?' says Adam who after dropping Wes off school has popped in on the off chance that they might still be here before heading back to the grid, only to hear the tail end of a conversation that he had assumed had been put to bed, but not wanting to appear high handed continues by saying, 'London is a big city so don't let's reduce it to a small town by spoiling what may well be their last visit here by behaving anything less than adults when we see them together. Because I for one see it as a privilege to have worked closely with them over the years which means that despite sharing your sentiment Jo, I intend to enjoy the evening and smile when I say goodbye.'

Four hours earlier.

Not known for his patience, Harry had been pacing the length of the kitchen and drinking far too many cups of coffee to the point that when his phone beeped with a message from Adam saying job done, he was almost brought to tears again. That Ruth was still asleep saw him taking in huge gulps of air to steady himself after a night when he had barely slept. Too early to ring Malcolm and tell him that he and Martin could finally go home, he had stoked up the fire before putting his coat on over his pyjamas and dressing gown and stepping outside. The cold night air bringing him round even further to the point where he could truly visualise the future that Ruth had talked about as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Something else that his mother had said he should never lose sight of when he found what she had called his soulmate. Although why all these memories were returning and with such clarity he has no idea, other than it feels right somehow that if he and Ruth can find the time, time which they will soon have in abundance and as they had both studied at Oxford, albeit many years later in her case, something that he hates to think was the reason that people thought them worthy of ridicule, he would like to take her to the church where his mother is buried.

Waking up to hear Harry downstairs making tea is a daily occurrence so when Ruth opens her eyes confronted by not only an empty bed but silence, she presumes that short of any other option that he has fallen asleep in front of the fire, not that she will find him in the garden posing as an ice sculpture whose teeth are chattering to the point that she wonders what constitutes hypothermia. The cure for which short of any other idea she manages by wrapping him in a blanket and threatening to leave him if he budges from where she has forced him to sit as close to the fire as possible until he warms up, or melts whichever happens first. Something that he achieves and then some when over breakfast he finds his voice enough to tell her that Mace is no longer a threat which means that they will be able to keep their appointment with the Home Secretary in the afternoon.

A thought that comes with a frisson of anticipation that in the past Ruth would have run a mile from, whereas now when their commitment to each other is absolute, other than knowing that they are going to have to make decisions as to what they bring back with them, spend a day with Wes and have a night out with what will be their ex-colleagues, she is happy to let Harry who for once she is failing to read, have his moment by apologising without speaking a word, because as always with Harry he has a look for every occasion.

In the same way that she is grateful that he insists on driving when they reach the outskirts of London and the roads start to converge, where suburbs are replaced by familiar landscapes and the pavements are teeming with people. In a city that she had once loved and Harry protected but now feels like a monster who is about is to gobble them up.

That she had made a point of knowing where Harry lived, had she told herself in the early days of their attraction to each other been for no reason other than it had enabled her to send him food when he had been suspended by the witch. That was until he had asked her out and talked about the Grand Tour when the fantasies about his bedroom and a wardrobe containing suits shirts and ties, had despite her rejection occupied a great deal of her waking hours. The contrast to their little house in France now that they are inside, making her wonder what he must have thought on the day he had arrived and whether like her he sees them living in a larger version of what they have now or somewhere where you need a compass to navigate your way around?

'I'm making tea and then we ought to think about what time we need to leave,' he calls from the kitchen, bringing her back to the here and now.

.

Having never been inside the Home Office, Ruth's first impression once they get past reception without bells ringing to suggest that what are clearly two soon to be civilians who have broken in, given that Harry isn't wearing a suit but the grey trousers and blue jumper that she can remember from the day when his house had been burgled and her the black trousers and the top she had travelled in because they have yet to go to her house, is how similar it is to the interior of Thames House. Long austere corridors which require lighting at all times of the day and people who walk past each other without an acknowledgement of any kind. The wheels of government turning behind closed doors to the point that it feels claustrophobic which given how Harry has adapted with seeming ease to their daily walks and a life that is based on being in the fresh air, explains why he had always chosen to walk along the embankment rather than drive when summoned.

A sentiment which the Home Secretary seems to share, because when they are ushered in to be greeted with a smile and the offer of tea it is to find that the chairs have been rearranged so that there is a feeling on informality that makes Ruth relax and Harry appreciate the measure of the man.

Even more so when he says, 'it would be disingenuous of me to say that I hadn't seen this day coming, or that I don't understand why you want to retire, when in fact it was obvious on the day when Ros came to tell me that you and Adam had gone to France to find Ruth. That you have both come here in person, not only do I appreciate but gives me the opportunity to wish you both the very best for the future wherever that might be.'

.

'What now?' asks Ruth as they walk back down the corridor and out into the late afternoon sunshine.

'We have two houses to sell and a mountain of sorting out to do but do you know what, at this moment the only thing I want is for us to behave like tourists, walking around aimlessly before we pick up a bottle of wine on our way back throw a meal together from what's in the fridge and have a very early night.'