Grace chuckled. ‘Huh! At the beginning, absolutely, he worked hard to make me happy. After we were committed to each other, he sometimes demanded the suspenders and the tarty underwear . . . which he bought. I like contact, hugs, kisses and being curled up together. He became rather . . . clinical.’

‘Okay, okay, I get the picture. I suspect he has a small dick and always felt inadequate. Stop – no need to say anything.’ She held up her hand.

‘Oh, Mel.’ Grace laughed. ‘No wonder you’re my best friend! But I have to admit, he could make me feel special when he wanted to. It’s almost like we were different people back then, at the start. I’m seeing it all from a new perspective now. I think if I had been ugly and spotty he would have behaved the same way just to get what he wanted. Not the sex. But the control.’

‘What’s his mother like? His family? You’ve never really talked about them.’

‘Never met them, although I wanted to. They live in England. We get a card at Christmas, that sort of thing. Every time I talked with Lawrence about visiting, he had a reason not to, like he was too busy. Sometimes he’d make vague plans to see them, but it always seemed to fall through. We invited his family to the wedding, of course. Sent photos. It was a frantic time. He said they couldn’t come to our wedding because his mum was having an operation; they’re quite elderly. I just assumed we’d meet them in the UK at some stage. I figured we’d go there on our honeymoon.’

‘You went to Europe, didn’t you?’

‘Yes. Prague. Beautiful city, but Lawrence was in business meetings most of the time. He made it up by taking me to Venice for a week. But he wouldn’t go in a gondola.’ She sighed. ‘I wanted to go somewhere secluded and romantic. A week on the Barrier Reef would have been perfect, just lying around. But Lawrence always has to impress. Even me.’ She paused. ‘I suppose that makes it sound like we were never happy. That I was a spoiled princess . . .’

‘Not at all. You damn well deserved a bit of spoiling,’ said Mel. ‘You supported your mum through some tough times. Always worked hard and paid your way. For goodness’ sake, Grace, stop with the guilt.’

Grace was thoughtful for a moment. ‘I know. You’re right. I feel like this is a rut I’ve got stuck in, a pattern I can’t help but follow since being with Lawrence . . . It’s like he always had to prove something, show how clever he is, and I let him. And he is clever . . . but actually I never learned much about his childhood in England. Never heard any family secrets, his nightmares or good times, or funny stories from school. Nothing like that. He’s always been very closed off about some things. He’d tell me how good he was in business. How smart he’d been. It’s as though he had no past before that.’