The Somerton Man

FULL CIRCLE

 Having left Clara somewhat comforted and a little calmer, Eleanor now went in search of Daniel to let him know,  imagining he would start to drink himself into oblivion in his misery and guilt at this latest occurrence.

She found him in the drawing room, and with some slight dismay but not unexpected he was standing with a glass in his hand, beside the fireplace where Isabella's picture hung. He was staring broodingly into the red embers of the fire burning in the grate. Lost in his own dark thoughts,  so much so, he wasn't even aware of Eleanor entering the room until she spoke

"I have been to check on Clara in her room,"

Daniel now looked around at her, "How is she?" he asked dully.

"Very upset, but I managed to calm her down a little" Eleanor replied

Daniel looked almost relieved, "Did she tell you what happened? He then queried, staring into his almost empty glass

"Yes she did, more or less," Eleanor then admitted heaving sigh

"I suppose she hates me now," Daniel then spoke up in a brittle tone.

"She is still confused and shocked, which is understandable under the circumstances, but I don't think she hates you." Eleanor soothed him now daring to get closer to him

"I wouldn't blame her if she did," Daniel returned frowning into his glass, "It is no more than I deserve, as it seems fate had decided that I should keep paying for my sins until the day I die. Just when I thought I was finally starting to be able to put the past behind me, Gwen's return soon put paid to that"

"Yes, Clara mentioned Gwen had been here with you today," Eleanor admitted shifting uneasily.

"There isn't anything going on between us," he now stated in defensively as he glanced up at Eleanor, "at least, not this time around" Daniel added a little gruffly,

"I believe you,." Eleanor replied with as much sincerity as she could muster, sensing he needed to know she trusted him, and now reaching out to lightly rest her hand in his arm.

His blue eyes rested on her, still seeming a little bleak, but there was also the ghost of a grateful smile on his lips at her attempt to comfort him in some way.

"It might be too little, too late,"

"No, do not say that!" she protested, not wanting him to give into his despair and return to the miserable wretch he had been when he had married her. They had all come such a long way since then

Daniel grimaced before he knocked back the rest of what was in his glass, then shook his head.

"You do not understand, I don't deserve your pity or kind thoughts after what I done to my first wife," his tone was harsh, but more with himself than Eleanor, Now he looked up at the portrait of Isabella above his head his expression one of sadness,

"She was so sweet and good, and she did make me happy, only the fool I was, I mistook a young man's passion for something that was not his, and thought I could find all I wanted in that with Gwen. Only when I realised I was wrong, it was too late, I lost Isabella... I never got the chance to ask for her forgiveness, to let her know she was the one I truly loved," he finished brokenly

And now Eleanor witnessed something she thought she would never see, and that was tears in Daniels eyes, that threaten to spill down his cheeks as he heaved in a shaky emotional breath

"I keep going over it in my mind, if I had just come home sooner, if I had not kept that damned handkerchief of Gwen's, Isabella and our child might be still alive. But I let them down... Now Clara knows the truth, she will know I let her down as well.. and if I lose her, it will just be like losing Isabella all over again-" he broke down, overcome with remorse and his painful thoughts, he was unable to go on