I try again. ‘The trees are in full leaf already. Do you think it will be hot this summer?’

I prattle on, barely knowing what I say, to fill the void.

We sit down on a bench facing the lake. The matter has hovered, unspoken, since we left the house.

Filth. Slut. Ruined. Destroyed the purity of your blood. A long-silenced voice awakens.

Tomas is deep in thought and picks up a pebble from the pathway in front of the bench. He turns it over and over in his hands, smoothing his fingers over its flat, gleaming surface.

I break the silence. ‘I know how much I’ve hurt you, Tomas, and I’m sorry for it. I will try to be the best wife I possibly can. I will be so good to you, as you have been to me. But I want to understand. Why are you doing this?’

He exhales, long and forcefully, clutching the pebble tightly in his hand. ‘Because I must save you. You are a fallen angel. This thing that has happened. It doesn’t change that. In fact, you need saving more than ever.’ He lifts his gaze to the sky, as if he can see angels circling gracefully above him.

‘Tomas, come on. This angel thing… You don’t really believe…’

He looks down at the stone in his hand, stroking it with his fingertips. ‘I tried so hard not to love you. I really did. But it’s impossible. And I realised, a greater force is pushing me to do this. To save you.’

‘Save me from what?’

‘The Jew. He forced you. He must have done. It cannot have been your fault. That way, I can bear it. And I won’t let anything bad happen to you again. I will protect you.’ He raises his arm and flings the pebble out across the lake. It arcs over the water and lands with a deep splash.

My heart begins to pump faster. Harder.

Tomas rubs his hands over his face. He repositions his glasses.

‘I don’t want thanks,’ he says, his voice smooth, level. ‘It is out of love that I do this. But I want you to understand one thing – I’m sure you know it anyway.’ My throat tightens. ‘The baby has to go. I will not have that mischling child! It might be hard at first, but you’ll be grateful in the end.’ He drops his eyes to my stomach and a look of revulsion clouds his face.

I’m hit by a wave of nausea.

‘What do you mean, you won’t keep the baby? What are you expecting me to do?’

‘You don’t seriously expect me to raise a bastard Jewish mongrel? Every time I saw it, it would remind me. It’s inconceivable, Hetty.’

‘But you said! You told Vati and Mutti the baby was yours. That you would marry me because of it. Why would you do that? I don’t understand.’ A dark shadow descends.

‘I said that to protect you, not the brat. Besides, why would you want to keep it? I mean, surely you would want to put all that… trouble behind you. So you can give yourself fully and completely to me. We will have babies of our own. Lots of them.’