Earlier this year our house was burgled. We had been at a funeral and came home late at night to find the kitchen window smashed and the contents of drawers and cupboards in piles on various floors, the thief having conducted what police later termed ‘an untidy search’. It was a search of a kind they were familiar with, a search for cash and jewellery which could be quickly sold on for a few quid or melted down to be sold for ‘gold weight’. We were told that the rocketing price of gold in recent years has inspired a lot of such burglaries, which was news to us.

I didn't have much gold, but what I had was gone, including a necklace I was given by my husband the year we got married and which I had worn for most of my concerts since. An antique gold bracelet I was given as a wedding present had gone too. Worst of all, the thief had taken the entire contents of a ‘family heirloom’ box containing, amongst other things, my late mother's engagement and wedding rings. On top of these rings I had placed a special handwritten card explaining to whom the jewellery had belonged, with their names and dates. The thief had thoughtfully placed the open box on my bed, empty except for this card.