‘He didn’t walk out, Georgia. He made a foolish mistake, and you threw him out. He would never have gone out of choice, you know. I’m so very cross that Max and I were away that weekend, because I’m sure he would have come to us and not gone to her. We’d have sorted him out. Do you think you would have forgiven him?’
Georgia held very strong views on infidelity, as Ellie knew only too well. They’d spent many an hour talking about the famous and wealthy whose wives appeared to put up with all sorts of public ‘indiscretions’ without leaving their husbands, and wondering whether it was for love of their man, or love of their lifestyle. Maybe in retrospect they had been a bit judgemental. But her friend’s insight now might help Ellie when Max’s truth came to light.
‘I know it sounds totally out of character, Ellie, but I think - I hope - I would have forgiven him. In a way, you know, it wasn’t entirely his fault. I didn’t listen to him. I didn’t take anything he wanted into account. Pat’s always been the one to give in to me on everything, but he was determined to win the battle of the children. I was equally determined that he wouldn’t. I was being stubborn, and stupid if I’m honest. The daft thing is, I would like to have children. But Pat’s version - that he would give up work and I could carry on - didn’t fit with my ideas. I want to have kids and stay at home to look after them myself. I want to be a mum. But I couldn’t bring myself to admit that.’
Ellie was staggered. This was completely the opposite of everything that Georgia had ever said.
‘Why didn’t you tell him, Georgia? Why didn’t you just talk to him?’
A tear escaped from the corner of Georgia’s eye, and she brushed it away angrily.
‘I was in line for being made a partner. I wanted to achieve that first. I would have felt then that I’d made it, and so afterwards the rest wouldn’t matter. But it’s a sadder story than that. I’ve been very honest with myself recently, and I know that I simply had to win. It’s as if we were in court, and I was the prosecution while Pat was the defence. It’s always been like that. I think I’ve squashed him over the years. I’ve made him bow to my will over everything, and now I struggle to respect him. I know it’s my fault, but since this business with Mimi I’m split between loving him for being the kind, sensitive and - to me at least - sexy man that he is, and despising him for being such a bloody wimp. But in answer to your original question, yes. I would have taken him back. It would have been very hard, and I would probably have made him suffer for it - unfairly, I’m sure - but I would have tried.’
A great wave of sadness washed over Ellie. A year ago, the four of them were the happiest two couples you could ever wish to meet. Or at least, that’s how they had seemed. But things are rarely as they appear, and hidden beneath the surface, out of sight, something had been eating slowly away at the fabric of this marriage.
‘And what about now, Georgia? I know he keeps coming to see you, and Max was pretty sure that he kept going out between courses on Saturday to phone you or text you. Are you going to have him back?’
Georgia gave a mirthless laugh.
‘Hah! Hardly likely now that madam is pregnant. I did think there was a chance, but he didn’t seem to realise that it required some effort from him. He somehow believed that it would be okay for him to carry on living with Mimi until I was ready to welcome him back with open arms. But that wasn’t the point. He had to decide to leave her first, to show that he didn’t want to be with her regardless of whether I had him back. He had to stop hedging his bets. But that was a step too far for Patrick. In the last week or so, though, he’s started behaving in a really bizarre way. For the first few weeks, he was always calling, popping round, sending me messages. But then he went all weird on