Eleanor sat on the edge of a large four-poster bed, in a spacious room full of warm natural light. She was a distinctive young woman, but not in an extrovert way. To the passer-by, it would be her strikingly graceful deportment, rather than stunning beauty, that would catch the eye. To the lingering observer, her fine facial features and the soft texture of her long, almost golden, brown hair would then have enticed the appreciative eye on to admire a well-honed figure, always enhanced by subtly elegant, understated couture. Finally, the viewer would find the imprint of this young woman etched indelibly into the mind as her limpid pale blue eyes passed fleetingly over the onlooker's face. Was that with the merest hint of a warm smile?
For the vast majority of people, this was as far as it ever went. To those few, however, who were privileged to enter the circle of her closer acquaintances, Eleanor's inner warmth would bring a glow and comfort of a rare quality. Her lively wit was, like her dress sense and deportment, expressed with subtlety. She was not a blatant and extrovert woman at all, but one whose quiet and demure manner made her a coveted and trusted friend. Those who had benefited from her abundant generosity also knew of a depth of compassion and empathy that brought great solace. Eleanor had that ability to recognise genuine need and to draw closely, but never provocatively, alongside people in real distress.
For a very select and carefully chosen circle of people, Eleanor represented brightness, warmth, wisdom and comfort, for she was a friend to be cherished and her loyalty in that role ensured her place in the deep affection of those who were thus privileged.
For two people, Eleanor was life itself. James, a distinguished but unassuming man fifteen years her senior, with a military background and with both the character and physique to go with senior officer rank, had never looked back since the occasion when their discreet scanning of a bustling social gathering brought them into direct eye contact for the first time. He had tried very hard to regain control over his feelings and had applied rigorous self-discipline, but it had been a vain effort. Similarly, Eleanor had been transfixed by the steel blue of his eyes and, despite her best efforts, had been unable to erase them from her mind. Characteristically, neither had betrayed the slightest hint of the change that had taken place within on that occasion. It was not until a chance coincidence led to their being introduced to one another at a business event that the seeds finally germinated and ultimately blossomed into a union that had brought them the second person, Sophia Louise, their daughter, who had been the delight of their lives, and of many others besides, for the past eight years. Eight years of brightness over which a dark cloud had suddenly appeared in the recent past and which was proving impossible for Eleanor and James to dislodge.
Eleanor dangled her legs casually over the side of the bed, swinging them backwards and forwards and peering through the radiant glow of the evening sunshine streaming into their bedroom, watching in a hypnotic stare as a raucous gaggle of rooks settled noisily into a tall oak tree at the edge of the woods alongside her home. She saw nothing of the birds and their erratic antics. All she could see was the image that had haunted her for the past twelve weeks, as she had stared, frozen with horror, as their four-wheel drive had sped off down the road outside the boutique in town, whilst she talked to her friend, Michelle, the proprietor. She could never forget the sight of Sophia Louise staring out at her through the rear window in terror whilst the teenage joy-riders fled to indulge themselves in their wild fantasies.
It had been a local farmer who had found Sophia Louise, a couple of hours later, wandering frightened through his ripening field of wheat. He knew the child, for he had seen her with her parents about the town, so he had taken her quickly to his wife at the farmhouse and it had not been long before a kind and sensitive WPC brought the shaking child home and assured her distraught parents that the lady police surgeon had established that she had suffered no physical harm. A great sense of relief flooded over James and Eleanor and this was not even diluted by news that the vehicle had been found thirty miles away, a tangle of burnt metal. Two 15-year old boys had been arrested and released into the custody of Social Services.
The following six weeks had been painful for James and Eleanor, both of whom were beginning to exhibit signs of severe fatigue as they rose several times during the night to comfort Sophia Louise as she woke in a pool of perspiration and embarrassment, full of terrifying memories of that dreadful day. For a while, it had looked very much as if they would have to seek a consultation with a specialist to try and find a way to lay this spectre to rest but, miraculously, and not without a great deal of patient and expert support from their family doctor, the tide turned and gradually Sophia Louise had been able to return to the normal pattern of wonderful escape that is a child's sleep-time. Once again, the sighs of relief were clearly audible as the light returned to the little girl.
The case had been listed remarkably quickly in the Juvenile Court and the judge, whilst commenting with mild rebuke on the need for more care on the part of vehicle owners when leaving their property unattended, had dealt very firmly, but compassionately, with the two terrified offenders.
In theory, this should have been the end of the matter and the dark cloud should have disappeared from their lives, but it still cast a shadow over Eleanor and James, much to the bewilderment of the latter. For a long time, Eleanor put a brave face on and said it would all pass over in due course, but James was not convinced. One night, as they had been lying side by side, he had confronted Eleanor with the firmness that became a man of his character, but with the understanding and warmth that were characteristic of a man utterly devoted to the wife he adored unconditionally.
After much skirting about and prolonged attempts to dodge the real issue, Eleanor finally capitulated and confessed that she was racked by guilt and that she could not shake off the thought of what might have happened. James, no stranger to the workings of the mind, probed further and soon it transpired that the infection in this ulcerative lesion in Eleanor's mind was nothing more or less than guilt, pure and simple. It was at this time that James' deep understanding of the way in which the mind functions yielded an unlikely solution, one at which Eleanor had initially, and understandably, balked. However, James was confident of his ground and, after many such sessions of pillow talk, Eleanor had ultimately acknowledged that the most feasible method for neutralising this guilt was to provide a remedy, a punishment that would release Eleanor from the bondage in which it held her so ruthlessly.
