"Not exactly, no," he answers. The way he takes his tea has changed: that is an awful lot of honey he is adding. What can he say? It's the 1980s.

"If it is a comfort, the, ah . . . uncertainty is something you're alone in, even if it's different. Sometimes I'm not certain if I knew you last week or a hundred years ago."

Stirring the honey in to make it melt. He is trying with her.