‘You’d better believe it,’ said Jade, ‘he’s way excited. He’s coming by train, or donkey, or on foot, or on his knees, I’m not sure, but he left Assisi about a week ago.’

‘Okay, we’d better let Cardinal Ellington come along,’ said Hunter, ‘or it might be awkward for Guido. I love that guy and so does Lucy.’

‘Did she enjoy the immunotherapy meeting with Dr Seaford?’

‘It was great,’ said Hunter, ‘and it ties in with what she is doing at Epi, working with the natural defences of plants.’

‘Right!’ said Jade, who appeared to be even more passionate about Lucy’s longevity than Hunter, or Lucy herself. ‘It just makes so much sense, working with the body instead of against it.’

‘Sure,’ said Hunter, ‘bar the odd amputation, antibiotic, transplant, anti-viral medication …’

‘Okay, so maybe I was rushing ahead,’ said Jade.

‘I think I’m going to try one of the Capo Santo programs before Lucy wakes up,’ said Hunter. ‘I never got around to testing it out. I was too busy with Focus and Concentrate. I could really use a mystical experience this morning and I’d like to see whether Cardinal Ellington has ripped us off or not.’

‘Enjoy!’ said Jade, in her go-to-bed voice, just in case Hunter had forgotten that she was always there for him.

‘I suppose we must support Lucy,’ said Martin, ‘but this Brainwaves thing …’

‘I know, darling,’ said Lizzie. ‘Look on the bright side, there might be a placebo effect.’

‘Oh, there’ll certainly be lots of effects. We’ve been shooting electric currents through the brain for some time. I used to have to watch. And we’ve been surrendering parts of ourselves to technology ever since we hit someone with a rock rather than a fist. It’s the credulity and the voluptuousness of the surrender …’

‘What if it works?’ said Lizzie. ‘Maybe there are brain-wave patterns that induce desirable emotional states.’

‘That’s what I’m afraid of,’ said Martin. ‘There are already so many ways to confuse pleasure with well-being.’

‘You’re such a puritan,’ said Lizzie, resting her hand on Martin’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

He got up and they both cleared away their coffee cups and the rest of the breakfast things, carrying them over to the sink.

‘I thought there was something odd about Francis last night,’ said Martin.

‘Maybe he’s just staring into the crevasse of parenthood,’ said Lizzie.

‘Maybe,’ said Martin, ‘it was definitely a crevasse of some sort.’

Lizzie gave Martin a sympathetic but firm look, managing to show that she understood, but was opposed to further speculation. ‘I enjoyed meeting Hunter. It turns out he’s been in analysis for quite a while.’

‘Yes,’ said Martin, ‘he mentioned that to me as well.’