He sits down grumpily, which doesn’t surprise Rose. He doesn’t want his real secret coming out. That’s why he’s so compliant.
Or is it something else?
For once, Grazia isn’t looking at her husband with anything close to fondness.
This might be the time to launch the Bernard-shaped grenade, Rose decides.
‘Bernard, I feel there’s more you aren’t telling us,’ she begins.
She can see the group shifting in their chairs.
‘We’ve talked and we’re good now,’ he says, smiling.
The old liar.
Rose knows there are two ways this can go – he might storm out or he might stay. But she has to risk it.
This was what Grazia wanted to talk about most.
‘You’ve sorted out the club issue with Grazia, then? You’ve agreed with Grazia not to visit the S&M clubs any more to have sex with strange girls?’
There’s a synchronised mouth-falling-open thing going on with everyone except Grazia, who’s gazing at one of her manicured hands.
Bernard is half out of his chair. ‘How dare you …’ he begins and Rose knows the mask is off now. ‘How fucking dare you …’
His eyes are blazing with sheer rage. ‘You are going to regret this!’ he hisses.
‘Sit down, Bernard,’ says Rose and she’s aware thatwhen she’s at her most fierce, she could be wielding a leather paddle and whip and wearing thigh-high PVC. That’s never been her thing.
‘Sit!’ she commands again, more dog trainer now.
Grazia turns her head to look at her husband and only then does he lower himself slowly back onto his chair.
They exchange a look. Bernard reaches out to touch her hand and she lets him, but she doesn’t take his fingers in return.
Instead, she looks at Rose, and Bernard slumps back in his seat, mouth like a steel trap.
‘There’s no judgement here on your sex life, Bernard,’ says Rose as matter-of-factly as she can manage. ‘But you need to share with the group. Can you do that?’
Bernard sneers at her.
‘You’re going to be very sorry for this,’ he says.
‘Bernard, I’m not here to hurt you,’ says Rose, ‘but you came here to fix your marriage, didn’t you?’
Rose waits.
Everybody waits.
The cicadas sing.
Bernard’s still staring at Rose.
So she turns to his wife.
‘Grazia, are you frightened of Bernard’s reaction because you’ve told me a second huge barrier to your marriage’s survival?’
‘Yes, I am frightened,’ says Grazia unexpectedly, staring at Rose, her gaze not even taking in her agitated husband. ‘I am not frightened normally but on this subject, he gets so angry. As if I have no right to question him when he has sex with these women. It is not my business, he says. How dare he!’
