Robin is invited by Rufus Fernsby to visit him at his place of work.  Rufus is the son of Walter Fernsby, the older man who went to Chapman Farm at the same time as Robin.

Rufus Fernsby works at the Institute of Civil Engineers, at 1 Great George Street in Westminster. Robin had been imagining a brutalist building but finds instead that ‘Rufus Fernsby’s place of work was a gigantic Edwardian building of considerable grandeur’ (Chapter 108).

‘Robin was sent up a crimson-carpeted staircase which, coupled with the white walls, reminded her faintly of the farmhouse at Chapman Farm’ (Chapter 108).

‘She passed oil paintings of eminent engineers…’

‘… and a stained-glass window with a coat of arms supported by a crane and a beaver bearing the motto Scientia et Ingenio’ (Chapter 108).

Robin finds the rather bad-tempered Fernsby in an upstairs open-plan room. He tells her that she should have waited for him in the atrium, and then leads her downstairs again so fast she has to almost jog to keep up.

‘‘This is a beautiful building’ she said, hoping to ingratiate herself’ (Chapter 108).

‘The café on the ground floor was infinitely more upmarket than any that had graced the offices where Robin had once worked as a temporary secretary’ (Chapter 108).

‘…there were booths of black leather banquettes, sleek light fittings and expressionist prints on the walls’ (Chapter 108).

They join the queue at the counter…

…and buy themselves sandwiches…

…before sitting down at a corner table.

As they eat, Robin asks Rufus questions about his experiences at Chapman Farm when he was taken there by his father when he was fifteen, his father’s current involvement in the UHC and his relationship with his twin sister, Rosie.  Fernsby eventually storms off leaving Robin alone in the now crowded café.

You can take a virtual tour of 1 Great George Street on their website here.

The Institute of Civil Engineers is located here: