Lizzie and Frances were twins.  The had all the conspiratorial closeness of twins, together forming part of a unit, a joint wholeness--or at least that was the way Lizzie saw it.  Lizzie was the one who had everything, husband, children, a flourishing business, and the most beautiful house in Langworth.  Frances had a solitary life in London, running her own small travel firm, and progressing through a sequence of unsatisfactory men.  Lizzie felt sorry for Frances and worried about her, but still she thought that everything was--vaguely--all right as long as Frances could share in her complete and satisfying life.

Then Frances, suddenly and surprisingly, announced she wasn't coming home to Lizzie for Christmas.  She was going away, to Spain.  Lizzie's world began to tilt.  She had always known that Frances kept a small part of herself separate but her Christmas defection seemed overwhelmingly threatening to their unity.

As Frances's future promised to change into something exciting and unexpected, so Lizzie's began to deteriorate as Britain's economic crises ate into her ideal lifestyle.  Now it seemed that Frances could be the twin to have everything.