Chapter 64

• When he woke up the next day, the sunlight was streaming into his bedroom. The light drapes at the French doors had been left open when he went to bed last night and now he sat up slowly, blearily. Too much drink and a very late night had made him restless and he had finally fallen asleep at dawn.
• The excited sounds of his children floated up and he curiously limped across to the windows facing the lawn. He was bare-chested, wearing his boxers and he became aware that the chill of winter was beginning to set in. Striding to the balcony, he looked down onto the lawns below his rooms on the second floor, scratching his hirsute chest absently.
• His wife and children were on the grass, at what Proserpina possibly imagined was a secluded part of the garden. She had no idea that when he came out onto his terrace, he had a good view of his family. She was doing her morning yoga exercises and the kids were fooling around. They were all in yoga outfits but it was his wife’s flexibility that made him focus entirely on her, like a schoolboy fascinated by the first sight of a woman’s luscious body.