CHAPTER 1

The British Embassy was a grand house on a tree-lined street in the old part of Helsinki.

The chandeliers were sparkling, the parquet floors polished, the antique furniture

gleaming. The ambassador and his wife, who wore a long velvet skirt and a frilly white

blouse, stood in the doorway to the main reception room, officially greeting all guests.

When it was Kaisa's tun, she took the invitation, with its ornate gold writing, out of her

handbag, but the woman didn't even glance at it. Instead,d, she took Kaisa's hand and

smiled briefly, before she did the same to Kaisa's friend Tuuli, and then to the next per-

son in line. Kaisa grabbed the hem of her dress to pull it down a little. When a waiter

in a white waistcoat appeared out of nowhere and offered her a glass of sherry from

a silver tray, Kaisa nodded to her friend and they settled into a corner of a brightly it

room and sipped the sweet drink. A few people were scattered around the room, talking

English in small groups, but the space seemed too large for all of them. One woman in a

cream evening gown glanced briefly towards the Finnish girls and smiled, but most were

unconcerned with the two of them standing alone in a comer, staring at their shoes, in

a vain attempt not to the lookout of place.

Kaisa touched the hem of her black-and-white crepe dress once more. She knew it

suited her well, but she couldn't help thinking she should have borrowed an even-ing

gown form somewhere.

Kaisa looked at her friend and wondered if Tuuli was nervous about the evening as she

was. She doubted it Tuuli was a tall, confident girl. Nothing seemed to faze her. You

look great, Tuuli said, as if she'd read Kaisa's mind. I keep thinking I should have worn a

long dress. Kaisa said.

Kaisa's friend from university looked down at her own turquoise satin blouse, which

fitted tightly around her slim body. She'd tucked the blouse smartly into her navy

trousers. On her feet, Tuuli had a pair of light-brown loafers with low heels. Kaisa's

courts made her, for once, the same height as Tuuli. What did the woman at the bank

say, exactly? Tuuli asked. Kaisa noticed her blue eyes had turned the exact same hue

as her blouse. Her friend was very pretty. Students and staff at Hanken, the Swedish

language university to which Kaisa had so remarkably gained entry a year ago, though

the two girls were sisters, Kaisa didn't think she looks anything like Tuuli. As well as

being much

taller, her friend also had larger breasts, which made men turn and stare. Cocktail

dresses.. Kaisa replied.

Well, I don't wear dresses. Ever: Tuuli had a way of stating her opinion so definitely

that it excluded all future conversation on the matter. I didn't mean that. You look

fantastic. It's just that she was so vague.. Kaisa was thinking back to the conversation

she'd had with her boss at the bank where she worked as a summer intern. The woman

was married to aFinnishnaval oficer whose job it was to organise a visit by the Brit-ish

Royal Navy to Helsinki. She had told Kaisa it was a very important occasion as this was

the first visit to Finland by the English fleet since the Second World War. The Russi-and

come here all the time, so this makes a nice change. The woman had smiled and con-

tinued, "We need some Finnish girls at the cocktail party to keep the officer's company,

and I bet you speak good English? She was right; languages were easy for Kaisa. She'd

lived in Stockholm as a child and spoke Swedish fluently Kaisa had been studying

English since primary school and could understand almost everything in British and Am

She'll TV series, even without looking at the subtitles. She'll but forgotten about the

conversation when, weeks later, the invitation arrived. Kaisa's heart had skipped a beat.

She'd never been inside an embassy or been invited to a cocktail party. The card with its

official English writing seemed too glamorous to be real. Kaísa now dug out the

invite and showed it to her friend. Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador and Mrs

Farquharre-quest the pleasure of the company of Miss Niemi and guest for buffet and

dancing on Thursday 2 October 1980 at 8.15 pm: Whatever, this will be fun, Tuuli said

determinedly and handed the card back to Kaisa. she took hold of her am,

Relax!

Kaisa looked around the room and tried to spot the lady from the bank, but she was

nowhere to be seen. There were a few men whose Finnish naval uniforms she

recognised. They stood by themselves, laughing and drinking beer. Couldn't we have a

beer? Tuuli asked. Kaisa glanced at the women in evening gowns. None of them was

holding anything but sherry. Don't think its very ladylike, she said. Tuuli said nothing.

After about an hour, when no one had said a word to Kaisa or Tuuli, and after they'd

had three glasses of the sickly-tasting sherry, they decided it was time to leave. We

don't have to say goodbye to the ambassador and his wife, do we? Tuuli said. She'd

been talk ng about going to the university disco. Kaisa didn't have time to reply. A large

group of men,all wearing Navy uniforms with flashes of gold braid, burst through the door, laughingand chatting.

They went straight for the makeshift bar at the end of the large room.

Space was filled with noise and Kaisa and Tuuli were pushed deeper into their corner.

Suddenly a tall, slim man in a British Navy uniform stood in front of Kaisa. He had

their sent eyes she'd ever seen. He reached out his hand, How do you do?' Ouch, Kaisa

said and pulled her hand away quickly electrician her an electric and Gaz Heathered d

and gazed other. Sorry!' he said but kept staring those eyes with those eyes. She looks

down look down at the floor, who seemed, who seemed unconcerned by this sudden of

foreign, uniformed men around them. What's your name?'Kaise Niemi'He cocks version

ear, 'Sorry?" It took the Englishman along time to learn to pronounce Kaisa's Finnish

She laughed at his failed attempts to make it sound at all Inauthentic, but he didn't

give up. Eventually, when happy with his pronunciation, introduceduced himself to

Kaisa and Tuuli, Peter Williams. He then tapped the shoulders of two of his shipmates

one was as tall as him but with fair hair, the other much shorter, older man. Awkwardly

they all shook hands, while the dark Englishman continued to stare didn't want he

didn't know what to say or where to put her she smoothed down her dress, while he

took a swiga large alarge glass of beer. Suddenly he noticed Kempty harndsy hands,

May I get you a drink? What will you have?'Sherry, she hated the taste of it but could

thoughts ht what else to ask for.

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