‘Not formally, but implicitly. Anyway, why are we even talking about this? I’ve only just met you and Olivia is six months pregnant.’

‘So, you’re deeply emotionally committed to each other,’ said Hope, putting another hand on Francis’s shoulder, ‘that’s beautiful and I totally respect it, but I also think you should honour your wild nature and live by what you stand for, not just in the land, but in your life and in your animal and spiritual body.’

‘Do you write a blog about this sort of thing?’ asked Francis. ‘You seem to have all the arguments lined up.’

‘Everything is lined up,’ said Hope, her breasts lightly touching his chest. She drew back politely, making him wish she hadn’t. ‘Don’t pretend you didn’t feel it yesterday?’

‘I did.’

‘So, why would you not go with that?’ said Hope.

‘Whatever happened to self-mastery, ethics and the transcendence of desire?’

‘Whatever happened to spontaneity and blissful union and Yab-Yum?’ Hope replied, her hands sliding towards his neck and playing a soft chord on a set of keys Francis hadn’t known existed until then.

‘Talking of Yab-Yum,’ said Francis, in a final effort to escape the apex predator whose fingers were now intertwining around the vertebrae of his neck, ‘your ranch, I mean, rather than the symbol of ultimate union with the true nature of mind – I had a good talk with Jim on the way here. He’s planting redwoods along the lower edge of Titan. If you and Hunter agree, we could make a lovely new redwood grove.’

‘I would love a redwood plantation along the lower edge of my property,’ said Hope, hooking one leg around Francis’s hip while bending the other leg, like a dancer about to spring, ‘it would make such a rich habitat and welcome refuge for all the wildlife.’

‘Yes. Yes, I suppose it would,’ said Francis, as he heard the creak of the branch and felt the power of the current pulling him towards the falls.

Lucy had put down her book after reading a passage scored by Olivia: ‘The anterior cingulate cortex is one of the most promiscuously excitable structures in the brain, participating in the perception of pain, emotional engagement, depression, motivation, error prediction, conflict monitoring, decision making and more.’