Death in December by Michael Sheridan

Author:Michael Sheridan [Michael Sheridan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847175199
Publisher: The O'Brien Press
Published: 2012-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

After Daniel has left the room, Georges, who has been present with Marguerite during the interview, asks me if I thought that Daniel loved Sophie. A father in this terrible situation needs reassurance that his daughter had some measure of happiness. To people of the Bouniols’s generation, the failure of a marriage would be a major event, a loss of status, even a stigma. And Sophie had already had one marriage break-up.

Sophie’s own lifestyle would naturally be different from that of her parents. Her attitude towards institutions, such as marriage, for example, to which she gave short shrift when it did not work, might be difficult for them to comprehend. Daniel had claimed that Sophie was impulsive, but perhaps it was more that she was very decisive?

I am embarrassed to address Georges’s question. The straight response is that only two people in the world know the answer, and one is dead. I had not asked Daniel directly – it is not the sort of question you can put to someone you have just met – and indeed you would hesitate making such an inquiry of people you know all your life. But there are certain conclusions one can reasonably draw from the interview and other factors.

There was genuine affection in the way Daniel spoke about Sophie. By his own frank admission, Daniel and his wife had their problems and at one stage during a separation she had a relationship with someone else. For this to happen, it must have been a serious separation – Daniel and everyone else acknowledge that Sophie was not one for casual affairs, she was far too serious about life and love for that.

It must have taken a great deal of commitment on both Daniel and Sophie’s part to get over such a separation. It shows that they were prepared to work at their marriage. And in the end there had been no parting for two years. That is a good sign of the stability that had grown between them. Also, there is the fact that I have had confirmation from both Daniel and her family members of Sophie’s expressed desire to have a child with Daniel.

Yes, on balance, I say to Georges, I think Daniel did love Sophie.

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