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.’ As soon as she said it she regretted it; she could feel his body grow tense.‘If I could get my hands on that sod, I’d beat the living daylights out of him.She’s just a kid; she would have trusted him, that’s what is so beastly.’‘Perhaps she’s right, darling: she’s not a stupid girl.Come on, let’s go outside and get the place put to bed.’Even when Tessa had been on holiday they had never gone to bed with the sinking sun.The last long rays streaming through the bedroom window heightened their anticipation.Through all the years of their marriage, sex had been important to both of them.Young and with abundant energy they had loved each other so completely that every avenue of eroticism had been explored; as the years had melted gently into the happy and complete relationship where nothing they desired was out of bounds to them, scarcely a day ended without the act of love-making.Seldom could it be described as erotic, rather it was a silent and loving way of sharing the last minutes of each day.But, on that late July evening, the scene at the meal table had something to do with the emotion that drove them.It wasn’t gentle love they needed, it was something wilder, something that would drive away the shadow of what they both feared and leave no room in their thoughts for anything except themselves and each other.This would be no tender affirmation of their abiding love; their bodies were as familiar to each other as to themselves, but dull habit had no place as they brought each other to the limits of desire.They wanted it to last for hours even while they raced towards the climax that neither of them could hold back.‘We’re so lucky,’ she breathed, still holding him fast, ‘so blessed.’‘Blessed.thankful.’‘There aren’t any words.’‘We don’t need words, you and me.’Short sentences, spoken in whispers, as if any sound would break the spell that held them.Then he rolled off her and she heard a change in him.He had been breathless, indeed they both had, but the unnatural gasp broke through her euphoria.‘Richard?’ She wasn’t even sure if he heard her.Frightened, she reached to turn on the bedside light.‘Is it that pain again? We ought to keep something in the house, something for indigestion.I’ll go and get the brandy – that helped earlier.’She slipped her feet into her slippers and put on her dressing gown, then as she reached the door turned to look at him expecting to be met with a silent message that somehow would combine the moment with what had gone before.But she might as well not have been there; he was staring unseeingly at the ceiling, his face contorted with pain.Forgetting her mission for the brandy she went back to the bed and dropped to her knees by his side.‘Try and sit up a bit, darling.If I rub your back it might help.’‘Arms.shoulders.’ It was hard to be sure, but she thought that was what he said.His fists were clenched and his face was contorted with pain.‘I’m going to ring for the doctor,’ she said, as much to herself as to Richard.It was only as she ran down the stairs that she realized with surprise and fright that he hadn’t attempted to stop her.A glance at the hall clock told her it was not quite half past ten.At any other time she would have worried that Tessa was still out on her bike even though it had been dark for some time, but her thoughts didn’t go as far as Tessa, nor did she feel sympathy for poor Dr Harding who was just on the way up his stairs to go to bed at the end of a busy day when the phone rang.But, true to his profession, after hearing what she told him he said he would come immediately.Then he took her by surprise and rocked the foundations of her world when he added, ‘I shall call for an ambulance to come out from Deremouth.You go back to your husband, Mrs Pilbeam, and I’ll be with you in five minutes.’It couldn’t be happening! In all their years together she had never known Richard have even a day in bed.Hospital? No, he’d hate it.Even if he needed care, somehow she would manage to look after him and the farm too.Just like the pain had eased earlier, perhaps she would find he was recovering already.Back in the bedroom her first reaction was a flood of relief; the colour of his face was heightened, but at least the expression of pain was gone.‘The doctor will be here in a minute,’ she said, forcing her voice to sound positive so that he wouldn’t know how frightened and out of her depth she felt.‘It’s dying down,’ he whispered, frightened to breathe deeply
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