very unimpressed when he found out women went into combat.’
‘Women fought in battles? Alongside men? No, I am sorry, but I cannot believe that. We are weaker and smaller than men. It would not be fair or gentlemanly.’
‘I could tell you about war in my time, but Rene wouldn’t be happy. Just know that here there is no war or conflict of any kind. It is Utopia.’
Liv nodded her understanding. She knew that Thomas Moore had written of a perfect, peaceful society on a fictional island in the Atlantic many years ago. An island like this one. And she had felt that utopian sentiment reflected in this place from the very first moments.
It was reassuring to know there were no longer conflicts like the Napoleonic Wars. But what had Jane said about world wars?
‘This Luke was a soldier in a world war?’
‘The second, yes. The first was early in the 20th Century and they called it “the war to end all wars”. It wasn’t. They got a lot worse. Don’t let’s go there. I notice you’ve got a sleep tunic there. Did Rene find it out for you?’
‘Yes, after I had a fit of the vapours after our luncheon. I was going to put it on, but I fell asleep. I tried the commode – the toilette – and it is a fine device. I have not become brave enough to try the shower yet. I may start with a bath. Can you show me how to put these garments on?’
‘It’s dinner time. How about I get you into a gown, which is pretty similar, and do something with your hair. Then you can join Rene, Julio and I for dinner.’
‘Your Julio is here?’
‘Yep. I think he’s thinking of installing a big lock on my door before he goes home.’ Jane giggled, and shook her head when she noticed Liv believed her.
‘Just joking. You have to watch those two for a while to get what I mean. Honestly, ever since Rene got his new…’ Jane stopped, and looked embarrassed, as if she knew she had said too much.
‘New body. Yes, I know. Rene told me Julio was happy for you to be friends with Rene when he was an old man, but when he was reborn, Julio was jealous.’
‘Oh, good. I thought I’d put my foot in that one. So you are okay with him being nearly eight hundred years old? That still spins me out. I mean, Julio is two hundred or so, but nearly eight hundred? What would that be like?’
Liv felt her head begin to spin again. From Jane’s sudden look of distress, she realised she must be close to fainting again. Jane pushed her head down between her knees, and the spinning stopped.
‘It’s your clothes. You have corsets or something on, haven’t you? That’s why you keep getting light-headed.’
‘I am wearing short stays, as a matter of fact. What has that to do with my vapours?’ Liv looked down the front of her empire line gown, at her tightly cinched breasts, from her bent position.
‘It limits your lung capacity. You can’t breathe deeply. When something makes you anxious, you try to get more oxygen for fight or flight, and you can’t. ‘
‘Oxygen? Flight or fight? Jane, please, I am struggling with all this. Can you speak more plainly?’
Jane drew her to her feet, and began to lift Liv’s morning dress up over her head. Then she systematically began to remove the layers of her undergarments until she reached the stays.
‘Good god woman, how do you breathe at all!’ With quick, efficient fingers, Jane began to unlace the stays that bound her breasts tight, and immediately Liv felt relief. She drew in several deep breathes and sighed.
Then, while she was recovering, Jane continued to divest her of clothing, until she stood naked, her hands covering breasts and the triangle of curls at her nether region. Before she could become too embarrassed, Jane dropped the silky fabric over her head and showed her how the catches at the shoulders worked. Then she held out the strange, stretchy cloth, and showed her the holes for her legs. While Jane watched silently, she stepped into the garment and pulled it up, stretching it over her nether region to her waist.
‘Those are called undershorts. Men and women wear them. One size fits all. If a woman is particularly large breasted, or she is engaging in sports, she might wear a version of those stays you had on. But they are made