As she entered the bedroom he raised himself on his elbow and wiped his hand over his face. She sat on the edge of the bed and bent to kiss him. There was a needling of stubble as their chins met and he pulled away. Are you consumed by self-loathing and regret? he said.

Why would I be?

Because you woke up with an ould lad.

Maybe I like ould lads.

There had been something perfunctory about the previous night. The brief enquiry about birth control – the previous year Dr O’Hehir had prescribed medication to regulate her periods, although it wasn’t until she read an article in Cosmopolitan that she realised he had put her on the pill. The efficient way he removed her clothes, the thorough foreplay. The sex was almost performative, a series of set pieces. She wondered now if he had been anxious to impress her. He shifted on his elbow and winced. The right shoulder was so high it looked like it was lifted in laughter. She put her finger on the bump of bone where his clavicle met his arm. How did that happen? she said.

A rugby injury, he said. His colour was rising. She had made him aware of himself.

Does it hurt?

Not as much as it did in 1940.

She put her hands flat on his chest. The hairs there were gnarly, one or two of them white. She drew back the covers and lay beside him. He traced the outline of a flower on her dress, just above her breast. ‘The Meadow of Asphodel where abide the souls and phantoms of those whose work is done,’ he said.

I thought they were lilies.

You’re funny.

Yeah. Even when I don’t mean to be.

He kissed her for a long time, caressing her arse through the fabric of her dress in maddening, swirling loops. You’re not a virgin, he said.

Afraid not. Are you disappointed?

Last night I rather hoped I was going to get to deflower you, he said, sliding his hand between her legs. It felt as though all the heat in her body was rushing to his fingers. She reached for him, so wet she took him in easily. He made a small noise that sounded like relief and rolled her on to her back.

Go slow, she said.