chapter 35

She shrugs. “I wonder sometimes about your relationship with her. She had your baby. You look after her. And you’re connected by Joanna. I wonder how close you are sometimes.” She swirls her hand in a circle, creating a whirlpool. “Do you love her?” Then she splashes, irritated with herself. “No, don’t answer that. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

I kiss the top of her head. “Elizabeth, we’ve just had sex. It’s a reasonable question. The answer is that I love her like one of my sisters. She’s had it tough—her parents were very strict, and they were extremely harsh on her when she got pregnant. I mean, really harsh, practically medieval. They wanted to send her away to have the baby so their church wouldn’t find out.”

“Fucking hell.”

“Yeah. It’s the only time I put my foot down and said no, she wasn’t going.”“I’ve wondered sometimes… you’re so honorable and, well, chivalrous, for want of a better word. Why didn’t you ask her to marry you?”

“Because I wanted you.”

She turns and loo