The suggestion was that Alexander Wilson had made it all up, all terribly embarrassing for the British.

Poor old C.

Sir Stewart Menzies, the chief of MI6, he had to provide an apology and account for this.

The conclusion of the devastating report was, as Sir Alexander Cadogan, a senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, we shall be indeed unlucky to run up against another such master of fiction as Wilson.

And Sir Stewart Menzies wrote explicitly, I do not think it at all likely that we shall again have the bad luck to strike a man who combines a blameless record, first-rate linguistic abilities, remarkable gifts as a writer of fiction, and no sense of responsibility in using them.

Which is a quite spectacular reference by the head of MI6 for Alexander Wilson.

But on the other hand?

I'm fascinated by the positive side of his character, his charisma, his expression of love, his romanticism.