If his parents noticed their son’s drinking problem, they did not allude to it. The only time Luiza probed her daughter-in-law about their marriage was to ask if there was any news of a grandchild yet. She would then sniff in displeasure when Bel assured her there was not.

Given her passionate physical relationship with Laurent, Bel was continually anxious that her body – which had not responded to Gustavo’s initial frenzied attempts to produce an heir – might succumb to Laurent’s gentle touch. And in fact, it had been her lover who had seen the worried frown creasing her forehead one afternoon and had explained to Bel how it was possible for her to attempt to avoid conceiving a child. He’d described to her the workings of her body in a way her mother never had, and told her how to watch and feel for the times when she was most likely to conceive.

‘It’s not fail-safe, chérie, which is why so many of us Catholics continue to have such large families.’ Laurent had smiled at her ruefully. ‘But there are ways that I can play my part too when you are in the danger time.’

Bel had looked at him in wonder. ‘How do you know all this?’

‘There are many artists like myself in Montparnasse who have wished to indulge in a little fun, but not end up being pursued by a woman claiming she is carrying our child.’ Laurent had seen her stricken face and moved quickly to put his arms around her and pull her to his chest. ‘Chérie, sadly, things are as they are for the present, and I would not like to see you compromised. Or any child of mine brought up by that excuse for a man that is your husband,’ he’d added. ‘So for now, we must take care.’

Bel left the Casa and climbed into the car, staring out of the window as Jorge drove her the short distance to her parents’ house in Cosme Velho. Due to the fact that any spare moments she could steal from the time she was away from the house were spent with Laurent, Bel had not seen her parents for over a month. And yesterday, Loen had asked her when she might next be visiting her mother.

‘Soon, soon,’ Bel had replied with a jolt of guilt.

‘I know you are . . . busy, but perhaps you should go and see her,’ Loen had said pointedly as she’d helped Bel into her dress. ‘My mother is worried about her.’

‘Is she sick?’

‘I don’t . . . know,’ Loen had replied warily.

‘Then of course I will go tomorrow and see her for myself.’

As the car arrived in the drive of Mansão da Princesa, Bel instructed Jorge to collect her from the Copacabana Palace at six thirty that evening.

She’d told Luiza earlier this morning that after she had called on her mother, she was meeting her new friend Heloise, whom she sat next to at the Igreja da Glória, for tea at the Copacabana Palace. Bel had known Luiza would approve, as she had been the one to encourage her daughter-in-law to befriend suitable young ladies that matched her new status, and Heloise came from a very old aristocratic family. Moreover, knowing that Luiza found the flamboyant grandeur of the hotel distasteful, Bel had deduced correctly that she would not suggest she join them there.