Finding myself drawn into someone else’s life

Saturday. As arranged, I drove north to meet Marie-Astrid Wallis. She had given me a different address to go to, an ordinary semi-detached house. Inside she was completely alone.

We had a cup of tea and she told me that she had split up with her husband and was living on her own. She intended to divorce her husband. They had agreed that their two-year daughter should spend half her time with each of them.

This news left me confused and a little shocked. At all our previous meetings Marie-Astrid and her family had placed such emphasis upon their religious way of life that the idea of getting divorced seemed incredible. The last time we had met there had been no hint that the marriage was in trouble.

And I also felt I was experiencing déjà vu – of not seeing someone for several years, and then meeting them again almost by chance and then finding myself drawn into someone else’s life in a way that I was not entirely comfortable with. Sat there in the cold empty house I didn’t know what I was expected to do. As it was bright sunshine outside I suggested we went for a walk.

In my car we drove out into the countryside, and parked in a little track. Getting out we walked through a village. Although the sun was out, the air was very cold, and I didn’t have an overcoat, so the walk was not entirely pleasant. Past an old church where a grimacing medieval gargoyle looked down at us menacingly. On some exposed stonework I found a lichen-covered coat-of-arms featuring three goats and the “bloody hand” badge of a baronet. We rounded a corner of the church and discovered a lovely old manor house, with a sixteenth-century doorway. Marie-Astrid was very keen to explore, and led the way round the back of this building where there was a range of stables.

It was so cold that I was glad to get back to the car. We drove to a nearby country club that Marie-Astrid was considering joining (£50 per month). It was a modern building set in woodland and comprised several bars and restaurants, a swimming pool, extensive health facilities. “As I’ve got older I’ve grown to appreciate nice surroundings” Marie-Astrid told me. We had a cup of coffee in one of the lounges then went for a walk round the building – squash courts, gym, an upstairs restaurant where Marie-Astrid was considering holding her forthcoming birthday party. The sun had gone and darkness fell quite quickly.

Returning to Marie-Astrid’s house, she sat beside me on the sofa and told me all the difficulties she had faced recently, and how she planned to start her life over again.



Malevolent medieval gargoyle (with gaping mouth)