‘I won’t do it again, I promise. I didn’t think it would matter… I thought you wouldn’t mind – I should have asked you – I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ Once she began, she couldn’t stop babbling. ‘I won’t see her again without asking you first, I promise. It won’t happen again. I should have asked you first…’

‘You’re not to speak to that witch again. Not for any reason. I won’t have it, do you hear me? I won’t have it.’

His voice rose as he lowered his fists and she breathed more easily. She tried to explain that she felt sorry for his mother, but he interrupted her.

‘I won’t have you listening to her lies, spreading her poison about me, behind my back. If she’s all on her own, she’s no one to blame but herself. I won’t have you drawn into her toxic games. You’re my wife. My wife! She drove my first wife away with her filthy lies. She’s not going to do the same to you.’

‘She never breathed a word against you – I wouldn’t have let her –it’s not like that…’

‘I’ve said all there is to say on the subject. If she calls here again, hang up. I won’t have you talking to her. Not a word. As soon as you hear her voice, hang up. Do you understand?’

‘Yes, yes, I understand. I understand. I was wrong. I’m sorry.’

They both knew that she would never have capitulated so readily if he hadn’t threatened her with his fists. He glared at her and she lowered her eyes, terrified of infuriating him even more while he was in such a temper. He must have moved silently because a moment later she heard the door close and looking up saw that she was alone in the room. Her legs buckled beneath her and she slumped to the floor, sobbing quietly.

With hindsight it was easy to see that she should have recognised the signs earlier, but the abuse had begun very gradually. Of course it had. Unless the victim was crazy, or a masochist, that must be how it always started, because no normal person would deliberately court pain. It had begun with the odd pinch, an occasional slap on the arm, nothing serious. He had been too circumspect to let himself go until he was confident of her collusion. She still found it hard to believe how easily she had allowed him to deceive her, but to begin with he had been relentlessly charming. He still could be, although the mask slipped more often the longer they were together. It maddened her to remember that she had been over the moon when he had asked her to marry him. For a while everything had seemed perfect – until the first time he had hit her.