Sisyphean Love

Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto

May 11, 1920

"That's good ... That would be fair ...Yes, I will ask my father.. Thank you for all you have done ... Good bye"

Mary turned to see her parents standing behind her, Carson lurking discretely in the background.

"Murray says Richard has accepted my terms"

They looked at her. "What did you mean 'that would be fair'?" her father asked.

"Richard asked for three months to raise the money. He is going to have to mortgage his remaining property to pay me out."

Her father nodded. "And what are you going to ask me?"

"Could you get the Chief Constable to hold the warrant until then?"

"Yes, certainly"

And with that the last drop of adrenaline which had been fuelling Mary's survival since Thomas had helped her onto Diamond left her system and she fainted. Her father caught her before she hit the floor and he carried her to her bedroom.

August 21, 1920

As time passed Mary's physical wounds healed. The best surgeons in Britain did what they could for her face although they could not restore the perfect line of her nose. But as time passed Mary's mental wounds worsened. She insisted on dressing in black and wearing a veil. She looked and acted like a grieving widow. She would not go out; she did not read; she did not listen to music; she would not socialize. She would not tolerate any mention of the miscarriage. She worried Richard was coming after her to the point where her father had to arrange for bodyguards for her. She second guessed the settlement. She took to sitting silently for hours on end worrying handkerchiefs to shreds.

Then the day came she she had been dreading.

Murray attended on her at Grantham House.

"Everything for the settlement is in place" Murray told her "Haxby Park and its related assets have been sold; the staff there have already been paid off; the collections have been auctioned off at Sotheby's and Sir Richard's solicitor is holding the net sale proceeds and a further two hundred fifty thousand pounds in trust. All that remains is to go through the divorce and drop the criminal charges. In this regard I hereby serve you with his Petition for Divorce" and he handed her a legal document "I will file a pro forma Answer on your behalf."

Mary glanced through the document. "His ground for divorcing me is adultery?"

"Yes, there must be some grounds for the divorce."

"What happens now?"

"The divorce hearing will be scheduled as soon as the autumn sitting of the courts commence. His solicitor and I have agreed to have it as late as possible on a Friday afternoon so as reduce the publicity. We are aiming for September 24th"

"Will I have to attend?"

"Certainly, you must admit to committing adultery."

"But I cannot..."

Misunderstanding her objection Murray assured her "You will not have to give any details. You will be just asked if you know what adultery is; whether you committed it; and if you knew the name of the person you did it with." noticing her puzzlement he clarified "if it was only once with a person not known to you the court could refuse to grant the divorce on the grounds of connivance."

"I see"

-0-

At teatime Violet found Mary sitting alone in the drawing room. She instructed Carson to serve them there and then leave. She noticed Mary was still clutching the legal document although it was now badly mangled. She poured Mary some tea and then reached over and patted Mary's hand.

"Soon it will be finished and you can start living again"

"There is a problem" Mary said in her dull voice.

"How so?"

"I have to testify that I have committed adultery."

Violet looked at her.

"I have never been unfaithful to Richard." Mary continued.

There was a long pause until Violet suggested "You can say you had"

"And perjure myself? I will not lie"

There was another long pause "So you can walk away from the settlement or..."

"Or what?"

"Commit adultery in the next month"

Mary stared at her. "And how do I go about that?"

"In the usual way I presume, there must be some man you fancy..."

"There is no one. All men are pigs. I will never be with another man again!" Seeing the sceptical look on her grandmother's face she added "I assure you my experience of the act has not been at all pleasurable"

Violet stirred her tea, waiting for Mary to calm down. She had one more suggestion to make.

"There is someone. Someone you loved once. Someone who is available..."

Realization dawned on Mary. "No, no, no..."

"Well who else then?" Violet snapped.