They were at passport control now. Kate pulled her mother into her arms and kissed her hard.

‘Have a good time, Mum. Look after my baby for me.’

Evelyn looked into Kate’s face and said seriously, ‘Haven’t I always? You look after yourself.’

Lizzy was crying and Kate smiled at her, a single tear escaping from the corner of her own eye.

‘Goodbye, baby.’

Lizzy threw herself into her mother’s arms and hugged her.

‘Oh, Mum, I wish you were coming with us. Will you be all right on your own?’

Kate kissed her again.

‘You just go and have a good time. Enjoy it. Before you know it, you’ll be back home.’

Evelyn stroked Kate’s face. ‘You ring that Patrick Kelly, you hear?’

‘Oh, Mum! Get yourselves through and send me a card from Singapore.’

‘It was him who paid for this, you know. I didn’t have any money at all. If I had done, I’d have spent it years ago. You know that. Did you know we’re going first class? He did this to try and help you when Lizzy was bad.’

Kate stared at her mother for a few seconds then Evelyn took Lizzy’s arm and they walked through to the departure lounge.

Kate’s head was whirling. Patrick had paid for the holiday.

It was the final humiliation. She had accused him of everything heinous under the sun and he had spent a fortune on airplane tickets and hotels for her mother and child.

Oh, the generosity of him. The concern for her. And she had taken what he had offered and thrown it back in his face.

She watched them till they were out of sight, then drove home to her empty house. As she put her key in the lock she felt it was mocking her.

At five fifty-five she poured herself the first drink. At seven she was in a drunken sleep.

Oprah Winfrey stared into the camera and smiled. Her studio audience was finishing its applause and the opening credits had been rolled.

‘Thank you.’ She looked around at her audience. ‘Five weeks ago in Windermere, Florida, a man attacked a prostitute. The woman, Ms Linette Du Bouverie, fought the man off, killing him. She left the scene of the crime because she was frightened of the consequences. She was later identified by a young man who worked at the hotel who had delivered a bottle of Jim Beam to the room. It turned out that Ms Du Bouverie had in fact killed a vicious serial killer from England. Tonight we hear from women who have killed the men who attacked them. Let us start by giving a big hand to Linette Du Bouverie.’

The audience went wild.

Linette walked out on to the stage and smiled. She was pretty and petite and looked like everybody’s next-door neighbour.