Part 20 (1/2)

'How did you know I'd be here today?' she asked him.

'I didn't.' He smiled. 'Believe it or not, I come here every day in the hope of running into you.'

Susan stood up. 'I'm sorry, Ted, but the time's getting on. I have to go. Karen will be waiting.'

He stood and faced her. 'Then may I?'

'I suppose so if you must.'

'Oh yes, I must,' he said with a smile. 'I really must. If you only knew how much courage it took to speak to you just now.'

Susan said nothing as she rose and began to push the buggy, but she was slightly mollified by Ted's humility as he walked silently beside her.

Karen was already waiting. Her cheeks were glowing and she looked happy.

'Thanks so much, Mum,' she said as she took the buggy's handle. 'I've enjoyed this morning so much. Tutoring is so rewarding. They've asked me to continue. It's for a boy who's broken his leg in an accident and as he's taking his GCSEs next year, they don't want him to fall behind.' She kissed her mother and hurried off. Ted had been standing to one side and now, Susan felt him looking at her. He touched her arm.

'Lunch? Please say yes, Susan.'

She relented. 'Well I normally only have a sandwich. They do quite nice ones here at the cafe.'

He nodded. 'Then a sandwich it shall be for both of us. You pick a table out here in the suns.h.i.+ne and I'll go and get them.'

He returned with an a.s.sortment of sandwiches and coffee for them both. She looked at him.

'I never thanked you for the flowers you brought me,' she said. 'And I owe you an apology for my stepdaughter's out-spoken remarks.'

He shook his head. 'Don't give it another thought.' For a few minutes they ate in silence then he said, 'Susan, I owe you an explanation and I'm determined that you shall hear it. It's all a bit convoluted and you'll have to bear with me but-'

'You owe me nothing, Ted,' she interrupted.

'Oh, but I do,' he insisted. 'There are things I have to tell you, if only for my own peace of mind.'

'All right.' She looked around. The tables were filling up now and two elderly women at the next table were clearly listening to their conversation with interest. 'But let's finish our lunch first and find a quiet spot.'

They finished their sandwiches in silence, then got up and walked slowly down to the lake. She waited for him to begin and it was obvious that he was nervous and hesitant.

'First, I must confess that it's true that I'm still married,' he said at last.

She stiffened. 'You gave me the impression that you were a widower.'

He looked at her. 'I'm sure I never actually said so.'

'Maybe not, but ...'

'Meg and I have been married for more than forty years. We were both very young when we married, especially Meg, and I'm sorry to say that she cheated on me from very early on in the marriage. She had an endless stream of affairs, none of which lasted for long, and like a fool I always forgave her and took her back. But eventually she met someone and fell seriously in love. They ran off together went to live abroad. I filed for divorce when it became clear that she had no intention of coming back to me but for some reason she refused to cooperate. I thought it must be because she was still unsure about her new relations.h.i.+p, but eventually that thought petered out and I began to pick up the pieces and make a new life for myself. I thought that eventually she'd want to marry her new partner and agree to a divorce, but the years went by and it never happened.'

'Do you know where she is now?' Susan asked.

He gave her a wry smile. 'Oh yes. I know where she is. Four years ago, Meg's partner got in touch with me quite out of the blue. He told me that she had developed dementia and he could no longer have as he put it the responsibility of her. He informed me that as I was still her husband that duty now fell to me.'

'Oh no!' Susan stared at him, appalled. 'But how many years had you been apart?'

'Almost thirty.'

'But surely, isn't there something about a marriage being null and void after a certain period of desertion?'

'Desertion is grounds for divorce, yes, but I never applied to divorce her on those grounds.' He shook his head. 'And I could hardly do so at that stage.'

Susan shook her head. 'So what happened?'

'Her new partner brought her back to me and just left. He handed her over like an unwanted pet and disappeared over the horizon. Naturally, she didn't understand. She didn't even remember who I was. Life was sheer h.e.l.l not only for me but for her as well. Eventually, my only alternative was to get her into a care home. I chose the best I could afford and she's still there.'

Susan felt chastened. 'Do you visit her?'

He shrugged. 'Occasionally, though she doesn't recognize me.'

'Oh, Ted! How awful. I'm so sorry.'

'The woman next door knows some of this but not all. She had no right to speak to you as she did.'

For a while, Susan was silent as she tried to take in all that Ted had told her. At last she looked at him. 'I wish you'd told me this in the beginning.'

He smiled wryly. 'I wish I had too, but it isn't a happy story and it doesn't make me much of a prospect, does it? Apart from that, you might have thought I was to blame.'

'How could you be to blame?'

'For all you knew I might have driven her away. I might have been a bad husband might have been violent or abusive.'

'Knowing you, I'm certain none of those things applied to you.'

'But back then you didn't know me. I would have told you eventually, Susan. I had no intention of keeping you in the dark. But when we first met I knew at once that you were going to be someone special and I couldn't risk losing you.' He sighed. 'Unfortunately Mrs Freeman forestalled me.'

'I should never have listened to her,' Susan said. 'I should have given you the chance to explain.'

He shook his head. 'It was understandable that you felt shocked and let down, believed that I'd misled you.' He looked at her. 'Under the circ.u.mstances I'll understand if you don't want to see me again. I just wanted you to know the truth. I couldn't bear the thought of you thinking me a liar and a philanderer.'

Very tentatively Susan reached for his hand. 'Oh, Ted, what a sad life you've had,' she said. 'Now that I know all this how could you imagine that I would want to end our friends.h.i.+p? I've missed you too so much.'

His eyes lit up. 'Are you saying you'd be happy for us to start seeing each other again?'

'Of course, though it might be better for us to meet at my flat in future.'

'Whatever you say.' Ted stood up and held out his hand to her. 'Shall we walk back to the cafe? I don't know about you but I could murder a cup of tea.'

Susan laughed and took his hand. 'Me too.'