Fanny leant against the table listening to Edouard’s footsteps fading along the corridor, and closed her eyes. Her head was spinning. She slowly took off her jacket, then her skirt, her bra and shoes and finally her knickers and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, naked save for the hat on her head.

She took her perfume, Solstice, out of her bag and sprayed it over the pillows to mask the smell of Edouard. She took off the hat, laid it on the bed and turned out the light. She slid under the sheets and closed her eyes. Sitting beside her on top of the bed covers, the hat was caught in the moonlight. Fanny brushed her fingers over the soft felt before falling asleep.