They walked a little further and sat on a bench, hidden from the road by the trees, and started kissing again, Shona’s small hands reaching inside his jacket to feel his warmth. As they clung to each other like teenagers, Sharif and his new girlfriend approached the bench from across the Common.

‘Shit, someone’s already there,’ he said with disappointment, stopping short a hundred feet from the bench. It was one of his many preferred venues for making love, if you could call it that. He peered through the dark and distance, trying to make out the shadowy forms that were holding each other. ‘I think they’ll be there for a while. Look at them, they’re practically shagging.’

The pretty girl he was with squeezed his waist, and turning to face him, slipped her hand inside his back pocket. ‘Don’t worry, babe. I know somewhere else we can go.’

As they walked on, Sharif turned and looked back at the embracing couple, sure that there was something disconcertingly familiar about the shape of the woman’s hair, but the girl’s insistent pull on his hand distracted him, and he didn’t think anything more about it.

Oblivious to her passing son, Shona was aware of nothing but Dermot and the cold air separating them. ‘Where do you want to go, Shona?’ Dermot asked between kisses. ‘There’s a little bar near here, or we could go to a quiet pub or cafe, somewhere we can talk.’

Shona didn’t answer. Only passion, she felt, would take her through this; if she stopped and talked, she would realize what she was doing and stop altogether. ‘Let’s go to your place,’she said finally.

‘Shona, are you sure?’ Dermot said with concern. ‘I don’t want to rush you into anything.’

’I’m sure,’she said.

As they entered Dermot’s bijou bachelor pad, they were still kissing, even as they tumbled through the door. ‘Would you like some wine?’ asked Dermot.

‘No, thank you,’ Shona answered. Whatever she was going to say or do, she wanted to say or do it with a clear head so she would have nothing to blame it on apart from herself. She didn’t even look at the apartment, she simply pulled off her coat and started undoing Dermot’s jacket.

‘Shona, we need to talk, about all of this, about us,’ Dermot said gently.

‘Afterwards. Let’s talk afterwards,’ she said, not realizing until she said it what she had just proposed. Dermot understood; instead of embarrassing her by asking, ‘After what?’ he simply took her hand and led her through to his bedroom.

‘Only because I have to get you out of this God-awful dress,’ Dermot said, pulling the long zip down the length of her back.

‘It’s my hair-shirt dress. I was doing penance for having impure thoughts,’ Shona explained, pulling it down her shoulders.