TPR thought that he was making everything quite clear to me. He explained that although we were no longer a couple, he was perfectly happy for us to spend time together. I got the impression that he thought that he was being honest, kind and practical, but all this did was confuse me further. I just wanted to be his wife again.

The arrangement that TPR proposed would make it very difficult for me to establish any new relationship. It was true that I had been seeing an older man. However, I knew that I could never love him: he simply wasn’t up the level of fitness that I had become used to in a life partner. Besides, my parents would never approve of anyone else other than my darling TPR. Was there any chance that I could save my marriage?