However, Elina's thoughts were on other things. She wanted to move from the city to the country and she wanted children. But, above all, she wanted Thomas to finish with tennis. She was tired of flying everywhere; it was unnecessary and pointless. Sweden was, in any case, the best and most beautiful country in the world.

She hated sitting in a hot tennis stadium pressed together with a lot of fat Americans while Thomas played. And she never liked living in a hotel. She wanted to sleep in her own bed as she found it unpleasant to be in a bed where other couples had slept. Her husband had promised to finish with tennis when he was twenty-eight, but he would soon be thirty and his schedule was as full as ever. Elina felt increasingly bitter when he smiled and filled her glass. Did he think he could keep her quite by just giving her alcohol? For two years he had failed her and deceived her.