Franck put down his cup, feeling a sense of wonder and complete harmony with the countryside around him. This morning he really believed he was part of it. The hills and the blue sky were waiting just for him. He and Lise were eating breakfast outside. He stood up and walked over to the house, coming back a few moments later with a thick red parcel from the butcher that he put on the table with the bread and jars of marmalade, to his wife’s astonishment. He odd new behaviour, took a slice of ham and held it out in front of him like an offering to the hills, as if he were symbolically dedicating it to the dog at the bottom of the igue, the canine partner working for him. Then he brought it towards him, smelt it and stuffed it in his mouth. It was so large that he had to push it in with his fingers, before chewing it hard and relishing the flavour. Lise was watching him, no longer surprised by this new odd new behaviour but wondering how he could eat it.

‘You know, Lise, it wasn’t actually them who wanted to play Robinson Crusoe yesterday.’

‘What do you mean? You told me they wanted to stay and sleep under the stars …’

‘Yeah, that’s true, but actually I kind of forced them to. I left them in the cage.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘I left them in the cage on purpose, with the dog standing guard …’

‘You mean you trapped them? How could you do that?’

‘Lise, do you know what they were going to do to me?’

‘But, Franck! You’ve left two men in a cage for a whole night? How could you?’

‘Hang on, I’m not the one keeping them there. I’m right here.’

He stood up and spread his arms wide, taking a deep breath as if drinking in the entire scene: the beautiful rolling hills and the sky, and the big clouds appearing in the east, like mounds of whipped egg white that seemed to float slowly towards them.

‘Lise, this is what’s keeping them there. The countryside, the woods, the wild animals, the dog … It’s all this, not me.’

He walked back over to Lise, indicating the panorama as if offering it to her, as if she were seeing it for the first time.

‘Look at that, look at those enormous clouds coming towards us – it’s for us, just for us. You were right, Lise, it feels great to reconnect with nature, and you know what? I think I’ll stay a bit longer – I mean, once all this is over and done with … We could rent this house for the year – the hills, the woods, nobody comes here anyway. It’s a good idea, right?’