Locked out by New York State law from divorcing his first wife and marrying the girl he wanted, Neville slept in the assumption that she slept beside him; within a week his first wife committed an act society condemned — taking what she had not paid for — which gave him his freedom to marry the woman who is now the mother of his daughter.
Date (happened)
c. 1942
stated · possible · preferred
before 1970
bound · possible
Reasoning
Qualifying passage ids [541614] belong to telling lecture nids [1512]. Each listed lecture contributes the selected safe envelope year 1970 (MAX of its non-refuted delivery years); 1970 is the MIN across telling lectures.
before 15 June 1970
bound
Why
Tightens the phase4 L6a envelope from before 1970 to before 1970-06-15.
Reasoning
L6a envelope tightened to the telling day of nid 1512 (certain delivery 1970-06-15); same premise, finer precision. The phase4 L6a bound on this event is `before 1970`, an envelope over delivery YEARS computed without reading text. Its premise is that the fact is true by the time it is told; on that same premise the DAY of the telling is a strictly better upper bound. Nothing is re-decided — the bound is stated to the precision the evidence always supported. The delivery claim for 1970-06-15 on nid 1512 is held at `certain` by the corpus, which is what carries this claim, and MIN was taken across this event's 2 certain told dates. #2274; the L6a row stands beside this one.
before 25 February 1942
estimated · probable
Why
M7 dating pass (529; 525's readers, packet 008): its source hist_event 20234 does not exist on www: left off; bound with no source: written as estimated with the reader's reasoning
Reasoning
This event describes gaining freedom to marry 'the woman who is now the mother of his daughter' (Catherine), whose marriage license is certainly dated 1942-02-25 (hist_event 20234); the episode must precede that, tighter than the existing circa-1942 estimate, whose year isn't otherwise anchored in its own witness ('in one week' is a relative interval, not a year anchor).
between 1939 and 1941
estimated · doubtful
Why
Two compounding approximations (a whole-number age and a rounded 'fifteen, sixteen years'); range, not a point date.
Reasoning
Using the corpus birth anchor (hist_event 950, 1905-02-19), 'separated at nineteen' spans 1924-02-19 to 1925-02-18. In the same telling he tells the court the separation had run 'fifteen, sixteen years' by the divorce hearing, which the narrative places within the same short span ("less than a week") as this sleeping-assumption episode. Adding 15 to 16 years to the separation window gives circa 1939 to 1941 for this episode. Both figures are Neville's own decades-later recollection and the age is a whole-number span, so this is written as a between-range at doubtful rather than an exact date.
before 25 July 1938
estimated · possible
Why
M7 dating pass (529; 525's readers, packet 008): its source hist_event 17340 does not exist on www: left off; bound with no source: written as estimated with the reader's reasoning
Reasoning
This event and hist_event 17340 both concern Neville seeking/securing divorce from his first wife; 17340 certainly dates that divorce to 1938-07-25, though this creates tension with Catherine being met only in 1940 (hist_event 810) -- kept as an added bound, not a replacement, pending human reconciliation.
Sources
Source
- Even the Wicked ¶27 (I simply assumed that she slept here, I slept here, and I went sound asleep, and in one week, my wife did an act which certainly I must forgive in the eyes of the world. She is condemned for taking what she did not pay for, and yet because of that act, I…)
- If You Can Really Believe ¶15 (No one was more involved than the speaker when I found one that I said, “I’ve got to have her,” but no one was more involved. And I simply slept as though it were true, and I can’t tell you in detail what happened. The most mysterious things happened to …)
- Brazen Impudence ¶6 (All I did was persist, I slept night after night in the assumption that she is my wife and she’s there, and I’m sleeping in this bed here.)