Alison and Patsy were sitting in the living room of June Blacker's cottage - soon to be Patsy's cottage. Patsy, who was just learning to knit, was struggling with something lumpy and amorphous in a bilious orange. Alison was knitting something far more complicated and lacy in a delicate white yarn.

On the whole, she felt it had not turned out too badly. They had what the press called 'closure'.

June Blacker had been an organised soul, much like Alison herself. She had ...