Under the Vulcania Page 9

  Now that was what he called muscle tone. And that was what he called a bone…

  Fiona, meanwhile, was beginning to regret having agreed to meet Raul for coffee. Having discovered Raul’s number, she rang to tell him she had changed her mind, but when a little girl answered and said he had fallen asleep in his rocking chair, she changed her mind again. There couldn’t be any harm in a coffee, or in meeting under more civilized circumstances, for old times’ sake… he had made it clear that he had even less inclination to discuss what he did for a living than she did to discuss what she had done that day for pleasure.

  Why? She hadn’t the faintest. All she knew was that it had brought her some peace of mind. She was happy in her body for a change. She needed nothing and nobody. Although today, in addition to feeling purified of toxins she hadn’t even known existed, there was underneath it all an inexplicable elation… a sense of possibilities… possibilities that were going to open up for her with the seductive inevitability of a blooming flower. Looking around her, she could not blame anyone but herself for this prison she had made for herself. She felt sorry for these people with her, these people whom she had trained to do her thinking for her… what would her husband do when he discovered this was no longer going to be?

  Right now, as they undressed for bed, he seemed intrigued by the spring to her footsteps. ‘You’re looking especially beautiful tonight, my dear. Whatever you did today, it certainly did you good. Perhaps you should go to that spa more often.’

  Once they were in bed, he reached for her. Sometimes, after a day like this, miracles could happen between them. But not today. No, today she had a secret and mysterious hope to cherish. For once, she felt happy, not guilty, to be selfish.

  ‘I’m sorry, darling,’ she said to her husband as she turned away. ‘I’m afraid I have a splitting headache.’

  A Note on the Author

  Maureen Freely is the author of three

  novels, Mother’s Helper, The Life of

  the Party and The Stork Club. She lives

  in Bath.

  By the Same Author

  MOTHER’S HELPER

  THE LIFE OF THE PARTY

  THE STORK CLUB

  First published 1994

  Copyright © 1994 by Maureen Freely

  This electronic edition published in 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd,

  50 Bedford Square,

  London WC1B 3DP

  A CIP catalogue record for this book

  is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978 1 4088 3067 3

  www.bloomsbury.com

  Visit www.bloomsbury.com to find out more about our authors and their books You will find extracts, author interviews, author events and you can sign up for newsletters to be the first to hear about our latest releases and special offers