"Deep down, all the while, she was waiting for something to happen. Like a sailor in distress, she kept casting desperate glances over the solitary waster of her life, seeking some white sail in the distant mists of the horizon. She had no idea by what wind it would reach her, toward what shore it would bear her, or what kind of craft it would be -- tiny boat or towering vessel, laden with heartbreaks or filled to the gun-whales with rapture. But every morning when she awoke she hoped that today would be the day; she listened for every sound, gave sudden starts, was surprised when nothing happened; and then, sadder with each succeeding sunset, she longed for tomorrow."
MADAME BOVARY, Part I, Chapter IX
*
A woman does not embark on an affair in order to destroy her marriage.
She seeks to escape the pain and guilt deep within her soul, which make her feel ugly and unloved, and by doing so she finds solace in the arms of another who tells her repeatedly that she is beautiful and good.
At least, this is what I have discovered about myself.
I hid something from my husband, the horror of which I could not even admit to myself, so when the ugliness inside spilled outwards, I looked in the mirror and saw a monster. I withdrew from my husband, for fear that he would recoil from my hideousness, and he eventually became distant from me not understanding my retreat and becoming resentful in the process. As he waited patiently for me to return to him, I sought to escape my misery and turned my back against the man who had the power to either be my salvation or my perdition. I could not risk unburdening my iniquity, only for him to choose the latter.
And so I awoke each morning looking for solace and redemption but finding neither at home, I wandered further afield and found a man who knew nothing of my demon but instead discovered an elegance and bloom in me long-forgotten and buried. He saw a soft sensuality in my curves which masked the brittleness I felt, and he beheld purity in my eyes which belied my transgression. The stranger broke through the impenetrable walls I had carefully constructed around myself over many years and infiltrated my troubled mind, bringing with him the intoxicating fantasy of who I could be. A connection was made, something so rare in my life, and I although I did not fall in love with him, I fell for him hook, line and sinker. A month of duplicity and I am slowly losing my mind, silently screaming out for help.
This morning my husband discovered my infidelity.
He is both incredulous of and devastated by my actions. He demands to know who the stranger is and I cannot speak. He storms out of the room and I follow him to try and explain, knowing I have no words to do so and caging my demon tighter inside me lest it shows itself.