The Cabin

At that time, my residence was a rather small flat and my salary wouldn't run to anything bigger. On the other hand, my father, unasked and no doubt in part to placate his conscience, had made a liberal financial arrangement with mother. So at her suggestion, she would inform my father she was vacating their house, and moving. At that time, she did not say where she was moving.

From the time of her leaving the old house and our moving in together took about a month and a half. Then began the most satisfying time in my life - a satisfaction that has continued I hasten to add. I had work I enjoyed, and I lived with a woman I loved and adored, and I knew I was loved in return.

Only one serious matter arose to make me fear I should lose mother, or, Mary as I now called her. About twelve months after leaving mother, father turned up on our doorstep. It had been easy for him to trace us and get our address. Not that we had gone out of our way to hide it anyway. We lived together quite openly and what people made of it was up to them.

The purpose of father's visit was not so much to ask, but to order Mary to return to the old home and take up life with him again. He stood in our living room and quite blatantly said, "Mary, I've come to take you home," as if he was doing her an enormous favour.

Through the architectural grapevine, I had been able to follow something of his history since leaving mother. The girl he had left her for had stayed in his life just long enough to soak him for all she could get, and then cleared off. Obviously, now he found himself on his own his thoughts turned to mother, and it was convenient to have her back in his life.

It was clear he knew nothing about the true situation between Mary and I. No doubt he thought it was just a mother housekeeping for her son. He was about to be enlightened.

At father's command to go home with him, I saw mother turn pale. "I thought, oh God, she's going to leave me and go with him." I underestimated her strength and love for me.

She seemed to steady herself and began, "Clive, you might as well clear off now. You hurt me too deeply; you treated me too carelessly. You had all my love but did not cherish it, and you threw it back at me. I think I've forgiven you, but I could never live with you again."

She stopped and I breathed a sigh of relief. Father sneered, "Decided to be the coddling mother for the rest of your life, have you?" Now mother said something that shocked me, and devastated father. "Not quite a coddling mother, Clive. David and I are lovers."

He was visibly shaken. There was silence for a moment, then he erupted. "You filthy pair. You filthy, loathsome scum." He turned on me, "You incestuous bastard. You mother fucker, I'll see that this goes all round the architectural fraternity." He moved across the room raising his fist to strike me. As he struck out I grabbed his arm and held him. "Father," I admonished, "I'm younger and stronger than you. I don't want to strike you, but if I must, I will." He backed away.

One of the ironies of the situation was that only two days before, Mary had announced to me that our first child was on its way. I was almost on the verge of telling him this, but refrained. He had had enough shock and pain for one day, and he would no doubt soon hear about it anyway.

As he moved to leave, I said, "Father, you may spread the news around the architectural fraternity as much as you like, but how much notice do you think they'll take of a man who leaves his wife for a girl nearly young enough to be his grand daughter? And in any case, I think you'll find that we are not living in a primitive tribal society now, with its incest taboos. Mary and I are adults, and have chosen as adults how we shall live. Goodbye."

He left, and I could not but help feel a twinge of pity for him. For the sake of one crafty young gold digger, he had lost a woman of inestimable worth – lost her to his son, thank God. I turned to Mary, and saw she was crying. I went to her and put my arm round her, fearing she might still change her mind, but she said, "It's so sad. He threw away years of love for nothing. What a waste."

I smiled, and sitting beside her on the couch I said, "If it wasn't for him, we would never have met."