Betrayed, bereaved and broken-hearted: love's labours lost

摘要

"Every love story," wrote Julian Barnes, "is a potential grief story." When years of amorous stupefaction have gone, fits ofwild ecstasies calmed down and thunderstorms of passion passed, sometimes love and desire part company. Cheating on a loved one, affairs or casual flings - when found out -alienate love and affection. The fallout can be ugly, brutal and expensive. Some women - Hillary Clinton, say, or Victoria Beckham - stand by their man. Others who are not so forgiving destroy straying partners' prized possessions: wine collections, designer wardrobes, high-performance sports cars. When she discovered her husband was having an affair with her best friend, a scorned 37-year-old paid for a £2,500 billboard to go up in Birmingham city centre. It read: "You are the most despicable, deceitful people I have ever met. I know what you did. I've changed the locks, Mark, burnt your clothes and emptied our joint account. You deserve each other!"