‘I was fond of my Sindy doll,’ she ventures after a moment. ‘Yes,’ Paul says, taking this up enthusiastically. ‘I bet she was like a best friend to you, wasn’t she, or even a sister? And you’d chat to her and tell her your secrets.’ This strikes Celia as an extraordinary suggestion. She studies Paul carefully for a few moments, wondering if he goes round the supermarket confiding in cans of beans and lentils, imagining them to be his friends or cousins.
