trading back to the profit level he’d achieved when he worked the necessary weekly hours in Manhattan, he would have to reduce his Long Island commuting to three days a week.
In January, 2005, Appleton claimed Appleton and Drake had suffered its largest three-monthly trading loss of $950,000. He and Alyce mutually agreed in that month to a trial separation, Appleton living in the Manhattan apartment, Alyce remaining in East Hampton. During that period of separation he became involved in two brief affairs, one of three weeks with Sharon Borowski and one of a month with Leanne Jefferies. He terminated both and sought a reconciliation with Alyce, to which she agreed. There was a short conjugal reunion of less than two months, Appleton once again commuting by seaplane. In September Alyce insisted on their sleeping separately and he began to suspect she was having an affair. She denied it when he confronted her. She initiated divorce proceedings, citing the two women with whom he insisted he had ceased any contact with before returning to live as much as possible in East Hampton. It was during that reunion that he’d admitted the affairs to her “to wipe the slate clean”. He asked her to consult a marriage guidance counsellor with him, to which she agreed but refused to continue after three joint sessions. When she announced her intention of spending the summer in Europe, he became even more convinced that Alyce was involved with another man and engaged the private detective agency that discovered her relationship with Harvey William Jordan. The index reference here contained what was described as sample proof of a premeditated liaison, further evidence of which would be produced at the divorce hearing. From the samples Jordan recognized three photographs, one of them aboard the catamaran, the second of their lunching together on the sea-fronting terrace at the Residence de la Pinade and the third at the Cagnes hotel. There were copies of Mr and Mrs Jordan’s room registrations from the St Tropez and Cagnes hotels.
Appleton claimed to have become depressed from the moment of Alyce’s refusal to share the same bedroom. The combination of psychiatric consultations, loss of confidence, mental distraction, prescribed tranquillisers and medication to treat the mental and physical effects of his wife’s behaviour had made it virtually impossible for him to run or control his business for the past several months: there had been long periods when he had been unable to work at all. He was still undergoing psychiatric and medical treatment. There was no prognosis to indicate how long it would be necessary for him to continue either. Because the costs were therefore ongoing, invoices up to the date of the hearing would be presented at the time of that hearing, together with an estimate of likely expenditure in the future.
While openly admitting his now deeply regretted adultery, Appleton insisted he had done everything in his power to sustain and preserve his marriage to Alyce. His wife had never been subjected to physical violence. She had enjoyed a personal allowance of $10,000 a month – unaffected by the financial upheavals of his business, for which he considered her a contributory cause – with Appleton paying all the household bills and expenditures. He provided Alyce with a new, personal Mercedes every two years. He also contributed towards the upkeep and staff costs of the Bellamy family mansion at Raleigh, North Carolina, in which Alyce’s widowed mother still lived.
Appleton further insisted he was devastated by the collapse of his marriage and even as late as her return from France had been prepared to re-engage in a marriage guidance programme and attempt a further reconciliation. Alyce had refused to discuss either with him, having formally instigated the proceedings from France, where she had been adulterously involved with Harvey Jordan. From whom, the statement concluded, Appleton sought exemplary and punitive recompense for each and every claimed damage.
Jordan stretched back from the bureau for the second time, surprised that it had grown dark outside without his noticing, trying as objectively as possible to decide where he fitted into the mosaic. And very quickly concluding that he wasn’t part of it at all. He wasn’t denying the adultery in France but there was no proof or evidence – because none existed – of there having been a premeditated assignation. Which made it impossible for him to be held responsible in any way whatsoever for the collapse of an already collapsed marriage. And if that accusation didn’t stand – which it couldn’t – he was sure he was not responsible for any damage, commercial, mental or physical, for which Appleton was demanding financial compensation.
He still had Alyce’s initial submission to read, Jordan remembered.
Her personal documentation matched that of Appleton and included two addresses, the North Carolina colonial mansion on Raleigh’s King George Street and a Manhattan apartment at 341 West 84th Street. Jordan’s immediate impression was that Alyce’s account of her marriage was going to be remarkably similar to that of her husband, until he reached the second page of her statement. In it were named a long list of trusts and charitable organizations – and a hospital and clinic in Raleigh – all financed and run by a Bellamy Foundation, of which, until a year after her marriage, Alyce had been executive director. Alyce’s marriage activated a two-million-dollar family trust in her favour. When Appleton announced his intention of setting up his own commodity trading business she loaned him $500,000 on the clear understanding that it was a loan, although no formal papers were legally drawn up or sworn. Over the following five years she loaned the company a further $500,000, again with no formal papers being signed to establish it as such or of her being named as a director. She received no repayments or dividends reflecting the total loan of one million dollars, but upon Appleton’s insistence that it minimized any tax liability she accepted Mercedes cars in lieu. Under this word-of-mouth arrangement she was given a total of four cars during the period of their marriage.
Alyce used the same word as Appleton – dismay – to describe her failure to become pregnant but attested that before entering the year long IVF treatment she underwent gynaecological examination to establish if she were capable of becoming pregnant and bearing a child. The results were positive; there were no problems. Appleton refused similar medical examination, which caused arguments between them. After the unsuccessful IVF treatment Alyce suggested adoption but Appleton was adamantly opposed, which resulted in further arguments.
Almost from the establishment of his commodity trading business Appleton insisted it was necessary for him to work late into the evening; frequently – as often as twice a week -she would be in bed before he returned. Despite the apparent dedication to work and some indications of success – there was an indexed reproduction from the Wall Street Journal describing Appleton and Drake as emerging stars in metal market dealings – Appleton repeatedly told her he was personally suffering substantial losses in his own tradings, although he never showed her books or financial statements. Because of the amount of time she remained alone in the Manhattan apartment Alyce developed a preference for East Hampton. There she worked actively for local cystic fibrosis and breast cancer charities – having by then resigned her position on the Bellamy Foundation – and enjoyed sailing, a mutual interest through which she and Appleton met.
Alyce asserted that it was she who suggested they divorce, so little time did they spend together. During that discussion she made it clear she wanted the return of her one million dollars. Appleton argued against divorce but suggested a trial separation of six months, to which she agreed. Towards the end of that six months Appleton further suggested that he return to live in East Hampton and commute during the week. She agreed but regarded it as a continuation of a trial, particularly after his confession of affairs with Sharon Borowski and Leanne Jefferies. Appleton was adamant that both had been totally unimportant and that he was making the confession to restore their marriage. His confession supported her belief that there had been many other sexual liaisons. There was renewed discussion about their having children and they resumed conjugal relations. He once more refused any fertility tests but Alyce decided to undergo a second series of fertility examinations, prior to taking gynaecological advice about further IVF.
The bombshell came when Jordan turned to page five of Alyce’s account. On the second of her resumed examinations Alyce received the results of tests taken at the first. There was incontestable evidence that she was suffering from chlamydia, a venereal infection that can render a woman sufferer infertile or result in severe eye conditions in any child she bears. Alyce declared that she had been a virgin at the time of her marriage to Alfred Appleton and had been involved with no other sexual partner during her marriage, not even during their period of separation. It was the discovery of her venereal infection that brought about her refusal to sleep with Appleton and the reason for her beginning the divorce proceedings which she finally instituted on her vacation in France, which she described as ‘getting away from the awfulness of the deceit with which I have lived for so long’.
During that vacation she had an affair with an Englishman, Harvey Jordan. It was a casual, entirely consensual relationship that was not premeditated and ended upon her return to the United States with neither of them intending any future contact or association. She deeply regretted the affair, to which she had succumbed from loneliness and self-satisfying spite at the total betrayal of which she believed herself the victim.
Jordan’s sank back into his seat as the fury churned through him, his mind dominated by only one question. How good a venerealogist was the money-grabbing Dr James Preston?
