She shook her head on its fragile neck. ‘Just the two of us. Nick’s father – I think he left quite a lot of money. I felt so grown-up. We even had a cleaner! But then . . .’

Ah yes. The but then. I wondered did it happen to everyone at some point, the moment when you realised your perfect, shiny relationship, your great love, had an underside, like turning over a stone. For me, it had been finding that lip balm from my husband’s car. ‘Yes?’

‘He started getting jealous. I had a male project partner, we got on well, but Nick was so suspicious. He used to call me while I was out studying, thirty times an hour sometimes. And if I took a minute longer than usual to walk back from the library, say if I looked in the shops or anything, he’d want to know why. Then he stopped me going out with my friends. My friends, they weren’t even party girls – just normal, hard-working students. We went to this gig and I wore . . .’ She looked down again, the painful memory fogging her voice. ‘I wore a corset top. They were all in at the time. And he went mad! Who are you wearing that for, since I won’t be there? Are you seeing someone else? In the end, I changed into a T-shirt. It was just easier.’

By the end of her second year at university, Nick had Lisa never going out except to class – and he would sometimes escort her there, under the guise of protecting her from the violent streets of the city – and to the gym. ‘He encouraged that,’ she said, with the bitter ghost of a smile. ‘He never said it but – he’d bring it up a lot. Once he read this article about how girls often gained a stone in their first year at uni.’ I looked at the exposed bones of her clavicle, and wanted to do some damage to Nick. He had separated her from friends and family – even her lively Italian parents had given up calling, since Nick always answered and told them she wasn’t home, which she would of course only find out about much later. If she tried to call them he’d pout. Why are you on the phone for so long? Aren’t I your family now?

‘And he made me come off the pill,’ she said, flushing. ‘Sold me this whole idea, wouldn’t it be lovely, have a kid young while I was still fertile. I had finals to take! Luckily it didn’t happen.’

And starving yourself was quite an effective contraceptive too.

‘I’m so sorry, Lisa,’ I said, and I meant it. ‘I hope things are better now.’