It is now nine years since I announced to my former husband that he could expect my petition for divorce any day. Ours had not been a happy marriage. The old adage of 'marry in haste and repent at leisure' certainly applied to me. I had known R (as I shall refer to him) for less than six months when I discovered that I was pregnant. Twenty six years ago having a child outside of marriage was still very much frowned upon so in May 1980 R and I tied the knot in the local register office with two friends for witnesses and no guests. I had not told my parents or family as I did not want a fuss