He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with a large red beard. People thought him good-looking, a gentleman and a man of the world. He also had the reputation of being a perfect husband and a model father. For the first time since leaving the house she turned and looked him straight in the eye.

‘You’re not going to like what you hear, but let me tell you this. I’m prepared for the worst. I’m ready to face whatever I have to. I’m not afraid of a single thing any more. Least of all, at this moment, you!’

He too was looking her straight in the eye. Already he was beginning to tremble with rage. He murmured, ‘You’re mad!’

‘No I’m not! But I refuse from now on to be put through the dreadful torture of motherhood which you have inflicted on me for the last eleven years! I want to live, at last, as my own woman, as I have every right to, as every woman has a right to!’

He grew pale again and stammered: ‘I don’t understand.’

‘Oh yes you do. It’s now three months since I last gave birth. Despite all your efforts at disfigurement I’m still beautiful, as you just pointed out. Now that you find me attractive again I suppose it’s time to make me pregnant once more.’

‘You’re out of your mind.’

‘No I’m not. I’m thirty and we have seven children. We’ve been married for eleven years and I expect you’d like us to carry on like this for another ten. After that, maybe, you might just stop feeling jealous of me.’

He gripped her by the arm and pulled her roughly to him.

‘I will not allow you to speak to me like that a minute longer!’