Her heart thudded a little. ‘But you say you can’t be without me.’

‘No, I can’t, but I must try.’

It came as no surprise, but it still hurt. ‘You’re in danger of sounding like a Desert Father. Women’s bodies are disgusting and sinful.’ She shut her eyes. ‘I’ll never understand why the views were so pervasive for so long. Or why chastity is considered heroic.’

‘Listen,’ he replied. ‘While I’m lying here with you, I can think only of you and your warmth. Of your beautiful body. I feel sick at the thought someone else might touch it. That you might turn to another and smile at him in the way you smile at me. It would drive me to madness.’

She felt herself melting, dissolving with happiness.

‘When I’m here with you there’s no room for anything else. That’s the reason why.’

What a waste of so many lives, she thought. The battle for chastity took up so much energy and the perceived enemy, which was lust and desire, refused to die. Anyway, surely it was possible to lust and to serve God?

He put his arm across his eyes.

‘There are many ways of achieving peace and equality and a good life,’ she pointed out. ‘They may not include God, but they have everything else.’

He rolled over and looked into her eyes. ‘You’re talking politics.’ His face was magnified above hers. ‘If you are, it suggests you don’t understand about faith.’

‘You’re mistaken. I do have a faith. Or rather beliefs.’ She was stung into revealing more than she normally would. ‘But they’re not the same as yours.’

‘For the love of God.’ The words were pulled from him.

She moved away from him and swung her legs to the floor. ‘I don’t think God has anything to do with this.’ She walked over to the window. ‘With you and me.’

There was a difficult silence and she cursed herself for spoiling their brief and precious time together.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said.

Still the silence.

‘Tell me about the books of hours,’ she tried again.

She heard him get to his feet, pad over, and she turned to face him and buried her face in his chest.

‘They were powerful.’ His voice echoed in his chest against her ear. ‘They told you how to spend your day: when to pray, how to pray. There were calendars, and texts, and special pleas. Women gave them to their daughters when they were sent from home to marry. Legally, it was the only possession they had the freedom to give away.’

She absorbed the information. ‘If I had been a mother, I’d put in private messages.’

‘What would you say?’