Chapter 112

• Susan reddened but pressed on, her sole ambition to show him that they need not participate in sexual intimacy simply to produce another child. She marvelled that Leo appeared so ignorant of such processes. Then all of a sudden she registered that it was not ignorance that had silenced Leo but a kind of unholy and incredulous fascination backed by rather daunting signs of gathering rage. A dark tide of blood had flushed his features, a tiny muscle tugging relentlessly at the corner of his eloquent mouth.
• “You have to be out of your mind to suggest such a thing to me!” he told her rawly.
• “Leo... if we could for once move away from this macho conditioning of yours and talk about this sensibly, you might see that it is actually a very sane solution to the problem.”