The Confession by Bob Baynes
My Darling David,
There can never be an excuse for anyone to betray their loved one. We took vows to that effect when we married twenty years ago, and I have lived my life according those vows. But there will always be occasions where bonds will be tested; there will always be someone who hits the spot deep inside you, physically and emotionally, someone who excites your interest and perhaps admiration for what they’ve achieved or endured. Someone who awakens a deep primeval response beyond your control. It might be someone you have empathised with, and had life taken a different course, you might have married and lived happily with. There will always be that ‘someone’ for everybody, and when we meet them, we all have to rise above our transient instincts and desires. And the more interesting and socially active our lives are, the more probable it is that we will meet those ‘someones’ and it isn’t necessarily a one off experience.
As life has gone on, I will confess that I’ve met several men who have aroused my interest, who have been witty and amusing. And quite frankly, some have been physically attractive. I have had no problem in enjoying the moment and moving on, safe in the knowledge that you will always be there. To me reliability, security and an enduring loving relationship are the most valuable qualities in any marriage. We, and in particular, I, have been blessed with our certainty of each other.
Given all that I’ve just written, I now have to make a confession to you which hurts me deeply. I would like to be able to say that I have always been true to you in every possible way, but I can’t. Honesty is also an essential ingredient of life which must guide our actions, and the time has come for me to face up to what I have done, and I hope you will understand and find it in your heart to forgive me.
You understood how important Latin American dancing is to me, the salsa, cha cha cha, tango. You were generous ensuring that I had the most exotic and sensuous dresses to wear. You were unstinting with your compliments when I came home with trophy after trophy. You were always there to support me. Those closely contested finals invariably with James and Camilla were so close that I often thought that if it had not been for your support the outcomes would have been different. You never complained about the fact that for seven years I was partnered by Georgios, perhaps the most handsome man I’ve ever met, those rather intimate lifts you took for what they were, just lifts. But I never told you and perhaps I should have, you needn’t have worried anyway because Georgios and James are both gay and have been secretly living together for years.
No, the secret that I’ve kept is my relationship with Camilla. I’m afraid that we’ve also been having an affair for seven years, but I didn’t want to hurt you or attract adverse criticism for the dance society. I hope you will understand and forgive me
Your Adoring Wife
Judith
Judith put the letter in an envelope, sealed it and placed it under the urn of flowers on David’s grave
The first few paragraphs are sensitive writing at its best, and like Simon, the change of tone caught me off guard. It feels like you shied away from finishing a deeper piece and went for the lighter story.
From Simon: I like the way this piece moves from the general to the specific. The first paragraph is about the balance of trust and temptation experienced in any marriage. In the second the writer moves to her personal experience, and in the third we get to the real subject matter, ‘a confession to you which hurts me deeply.’ Suddenly, with something of a surprise – but an entirely justified surprise – we’re in the world of Latin American dancing. We find out more about the writer’s professional relationship with her husband, and their rivalry with another couple of dancers. Then – wow – what a pay-off! Or indeed a double pay-off – two revelations very satisfyingly kept secret until the last two lines. The questions raised by any letter dealing with more than practical arrangements are: Why was it written? What impact was the writer hoping it would have on the recipient? Of course, when we discover that the recipient in this case is actually dead, it turns everything we have thought up until that point on its head – which is exactly what a good pay-off should do. And we get a deep insight into the feelings – guilt and others – of the writer. A very neatly constructed piece of writing.