"And my first Russian", he realised with a smile, when Miss Backus divulged that he was her first Dane. For a moment he thought she was asking why he hadn't applied for a slightly more senior job in the department (the answer being that he wasn't qualified), but then he realised she was talking more about locale. Why Britain and not Denmark?

"I've always loved the British Isles", he admitted. "Always, always. Something about its... well, its history and romanticism", he said, but didn't want to go into more depth than that. They'd only just met, after all — though he hoped this meeting wouldn't be their last as well as their first.

"What of you; why the British Ministry?"