Celia
Bryant-Smythe talks about how one mistake shattered many lives.
"We
all make mistakes. Many are minor enough
to be ignored or at least lessons can be learned, but there are those mistakes that
have shattering consequences.
"My
mistake would have been the former type had I lived in your time, but my heady young
days were when the world was at war and life was uncertain. I'm talking 1943, a
year that will forever be emblazoned in my heart. It was this year that I not
only fell in love, but the year I found myself expecting. You cannot begin to
imagine what a shock this was to me as I was not yet married, though, I knew deep
in my heart that was never going to be an issue. Marriage would have followed
very quickly had my father not exploded with the news.
"My
father, Henry Bryant-Smythe, the Squire of Satchfield Hall, a cold and ruthless
man with clear ideas about his family, tolerated very little and my behaviour sent him into a stupor. At
first I was not afraid because I knew everything would end happily, not only
was I naïve, but I utterly miscalculated the wrath of my father. What happened
next took place at an alarming speed. Before I could draw breath to explain
that there was nothing to be concerned with as David and I would be
married, I was banished from Satchfield Hall. Frightened and unsure of what was
to become of me, I believed my mother would talk my father round and all would
end happily. I could not have been more mistaken. If I thought that being exciled from Satchfield Hall was punishment enough, nothing prepared me for what was to
follow. Even today, forty years later, the hairs still rise on the back of my
neck when I think of my father and the power he wielded to make every one pay."
Celica
Bryant-Symthe's story can be found in Satchfield Hall
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