Can A Marriage Ever Survive An Affair?

He’d cheated and betrayed her. So why was Moira Swindell, 54, so ready to take him back?

- Sarah Holmes & Joe Mellor

Even now, I can remember the boozy stench of his breath as he swayed forwards drunkenly and whispered into my ear, ‘You know they’re having an affair, don’t you?’

It was April 2007, and my husband, Richard, and I had decided to have a bank holiday barbecue. But now, as all our friends were outside having fun, I stood there in my kitchen, my whole body trembling with disbelief at this man, Nigel*, and his sordid accusation.

‘How dare you,’ I snapped. He and his wife Lorraine* were good mates. I’d known they were having problems, but how could he suggest that she and my husband were involved? Especially when Richard and I were so happy.

Only then I caught sight of Richard’s terror-stricken face through the window and, in that moment, I saw all the lies unravel. Fleeing upstairs, I threw myself on my bed and sobbed. I’ll never forgive him for this, I vowed.

Richard and I had first met in March 1998 on a night out in our home town in Essex. I’d been divorced for two years and he was exactly the type of man I was hoping to find – so caring and romantic. We fell in love instantly.

Just two months later, he proposed and moved in with me and my seven-year-old son. Friends warned me it was moving too fast, but it felt right.