Bel put her head onto her knees. It was the first time Laurent had ever spoken of their situation with such bluntness and anger, and she wished she could block out the words from her heart and her mind. For she knew every one of them was true.

The two of them sat in silence for a while until eventually Bel felt a hand on her shoulder.

‘Chérie, I understand that now is not the time to discuss such matters. But please, accept that I am still here in Brazil marking time as best I can for one reason only. And that reason is you.’

‘Forgive me, Laurent,’ she murmured into her knees. ‘As you say, today I feel desolate. What are we to do?’

‘Now is not the time to discuss it. You must concentrate on your mother and her health. And although I hate to say it, you must take a cab immediately to the Copacabana Palace so you can emerge as if you have been there taking tea with your friend,’ he reminded her. ‘It is already past six.’

‘Meu Deus!’ Bel stood up and immediately turned towards the door. Laurent caught her arm and dragged her back towards him.

‘Bel,’ he said as he stroked her cheek, ‘please remember it is you I love and you I want.’ He kissed her tenderly and her eyes filled with tears. ‘Now, hurry away before I kidnap you and lock you up here in my apartment to keep you all to myself.’

39

Two days later, Bel walked out of the hospital entrance alone. The doctor they had just seen had insisted that Carla admit herself immediately for tests and Bel was to collect her at six that evening.

Even though Luiza and Gustavo were aware she was at the hospital and it would have been possible for her to spend the afternoon in Laurent’s arms while she waited for Carla, Bel could not bring herself to do so. Guilt that she had selfishly neglected her mother for Laurent ate into her. While Carla underwent the necessary tests, Bel sat numbly watching the trail of human tragedy enter and exit the hospital doors.

At six o’clock, she reported as requested to the ward to which her mother had been taken.

‘The doctor has asked to see you when you arrive,’ said the nurse. ‘Follow me.’

‘How is she?’ Bel asked as she followed the nurse along a corridor.

‘Sitting up in a chair and drinking tea,’ said the nurse briskly as she knocked on an office door.

Bel entered and the doctor ushered her to a chair in front of his desk.

Fifteen minutes later, Bel left the doctor and walked shakily along the corridor to collect her mother. The doctor had confirmed that the cancer had spread to Carla’s liver, and almost certainly further. Her mother’s instincts had been right. There was no hope.

In the car on the way home, Carla seemed simply relieved to be leaving the hospital. She made jokes that Bel found impossible to respond to and talked about the fact she hoped that the cook had remembered that Antonio had asked for fish that evening. When they arrived at the house, Carla turned to her daughter and clasped her hands in her own.