The Somerton Man

Confessions and Confrontations

Gwen was a mixture of emotions after she left Somerton Manor, it had taken all her effort to remain smiling so brightly in front of Clara as the young girl insisted on seeing her, telling her she hoped she would call on them again so she and her father could tell her more about their younger days.

But recalling the coldness in Daniel's eyes when he had looked at her directly, had shaken her.

Somehow she had imagined that after all this time he might not despise her so much, and she had been harbouring the hope that he did still care about her, and forgiven her.

But it seems that has not been the case.

It was only when she had returned to her parents house, and was alone in her room she allowed her emotions to go unchecked, the tears welling up in her eyes.

Talking to Clara, about her childhood with Isabella and Daniel had felt good, especially when she found herself just dwelling on the good memories she had of them all together. But the arrival of Daniel on the scene reminded her of the way things had ended so ugly between them all.

Gwen knew she was solely responsible for that. She had been bitter that Daniel had married Isabella at the time and she had behaved abominably whilst convincing herself Daniel had always been hers in the first place, so she had not done anything wrong.  

 Now she knew better, especially after  she learned Isabella's death so soon after all that had happened between her and Daniel.  On top of that, her husband had stuck by her, despite what she had done and  suddenly she realised the foolishness of her ways and vowed to be a better wife once they moved to London hoping to redeem herself in his eyes.

Remembering clearly the last conversation she had shared with Daniel, sand they had parted in anger, she wished it had not occurred and she just wanted to tell him he had been right to go back to Isabella and how sorry she was, even more so now when she realised he still probably hated her

It had been hard to speak to him with his daughter and his second wife present, and let him know her regrets, to try and ask for his forgiveness

And suddenly once more, she found herself torn between just wanting to get as far away as possible, and wanting to take the chance to try and speak to Daniel on his own before she left.

She wanted to try and make him understand how sorry she was that she had caused him such pain, and perhaps they could heal the rift between them.

She knew she could not leave things the way they were, having Daniel feels such enmity towards her, though she knew she probably deserved it.

She had to make him realise she regretted what happened and hope he might find it in his heart to forgive her, then she could leave feeling they had finally put to rest what had happened between them in the past.

The more she thought about it, the stronger her resolve became, ignoring the little voice in her head that also argued the whole thing was madness, But she counter argued in her head that it was what she needed to do. Then the both of them could move on again, and she could leave with her conscience a little clearer, and make him realise she was not the same woman he had parted from all those years ago.

All she had to do was get the chance to speak to him alone,, All she had to do was to bide her time, and hope the opportunity arose before she had to leave for good.....

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The next few days were very trying for Daniel, and he found himself guiltily avoiding his daughter, who seemed to only want to ask him more about his past friendship with Gwen, and was still a little bewildered why he had never mentioned it before.