‘Exactly.’ He was drunk enough to be honest.

She saw her opportunity. ‘How long do you think we should punish one another?’

‘Punish?’ he said. ‘Who’s punishing anyone?’

‘We’re punishing each other by staying married. We should get divorced, as sensible people do.’

‘Perhaps you’re right,’ he said. ‘But this time on a Saturday night is not the best moment to discuss it.’

Her hopes rose. ‘Why don’t I come and see you?’ she said. ‘When we’re both fresh – and sober.’

He hesitated. ‘All right.’

She pressed her advantage eagerly. ‘How about tomorrow morning?’

‘All right.’

‘I’ll see you after church. Say twelve noon?’

‘All right,’ said Boy.

(iv)

As Woody was walking Bella home through Hyde Park, to a friend’s flat in South Kensington, she kissed him.

He had not done this since Joanne died. At first he froze. He liked Bella a lot: she was the smartest girl he had met since Joanne. And the way she had clung to him while they were slow-dancing had let him know he could kiss her if he wanted to. All the same he had been holding back. He kept thinking about Joanne.

Then Bella took the initiative.

She opened her mouth and he tasted her tongue, but that only made him think of Joanne kissing him that way. It was only two and a half years since she had died.

His brain was forming words of polite rejection when his body took over. He was suddenly consumed with desire. He began to kiss her back hungrily.

She responded eagerly to his excess of passion. She took both his hands and put them on her breasts, which were large and soft. He groaned helplessly.

It was dark and he could hardly see but he realized, by the half-smothered sounds coming from the surrounding vegetation, that there were numerous couples doing similar things nearby.

She pressed her body against his, and he knew she could feel his erection. He was so excited he felt he would ejaculate any second. She seemed as madly aroused as he was. He felt her unbuttoning his pants with frantic fingers. Her hands were cool on his hot penis. She eased it out of his clothing, then, to his surprise and delight, she knelt down. As soon as her lips closed over the head, he spurted uncontrollably into her mouth. She sucked and licked feverishly as he did so.

When the climax was over she continued to kiss it until it softened. Then she gently put it away and stood up.

‘That was exciting,’ she whispered. ‘Thank you.’

He had been about to thank her. Instead, he put his arms around her and pulled her close. He felt so grateful to her that he could have wept. He had not realized how badly he needed a woman’s affection tonight. Some kind of shadow had been lifted from him. ‘I can’t tell you . . .’ he began, but he could not find words to explain how much it meant to him.