“Why do you think Isaac locked Frank up in the basement?” Cera laughs lightly. “He didn’t wait his turn!”

So it wasn’t because Frank was raping me; it was because he dared to try and have sex with me before Isaac.

“And what if I don’t want to sleep with anyone else?” I ask.

“Your choice. No one’s going to force you, Emma.”

“Really?”

“Jesus!” Cera stares at me in horror and tucks a loose dreadlock behind her ear. “What do you take us for? The guys have to register their interest in the new detoxers to prevent jealousy and competitiveness, that’s all. You should be flattered, not freaked out. Who you sleep with is up to you.”

“As long as you don’t form a relationship with them,” Isis adds, “because then attachment is inevitable and that goes completely against the Ekanta Yatra ethos.”

Her gaze flicks towards the orchard. Sally is hanging up her damp clothes on a washing line strung between two trees. She senses us watching and raises a tentative hand in greeting. She’s too far away for me to make out the expression on her face.

“So has everyone slept with Isaac, then? All the women who’ve had their detox?”

“Yes.”

“What about Ruth? Did she?”

They exchange a look then Isis looks back at me. “Ruth was a troublemaker.”

“In what way?”

She reaches into the bag she’s wearing over her shoulder and pulls out a bottle of water, unscrews the lid, takes a sip then hands it me. “Have you ever had a one-night stand, Emma?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

I shrug. “Four or five.”

“And were you drunk when you slept with them?”

“Possibly.” I wipe the neck of the bottle on my dress then raise it to my lips. “Probably.”

“Ever sleep with someone you didn’t fancy particularly?”

I pause, mid-sip. I want to say no, that I fancied everyone I’ve ever slept with, but that’s not true. There were at least two men I’ve slept with that I wouldn’t have gone near if I’d been sober; men I only took home with me because Daisy encouraged me to.

“That’s a yes, isn’t it?” Isis says when I don’t answer. “Everyone’s done it, Emma. You might have slept with them because you were drunk or horny or lonely or sad or bored, but you did it, you enjoyed it, and, other than a hangover the next morning, it didn’t do you any harm, did it?”

“It made me feel hollow.”