My mother's sister went to New Zealand for a holiday after a failed marriage. She met a man there and they married and stayed together their entire lives.

He had a title and was connected so she got to be a Lady and zoomed up the NZ social scale (like something out of the 1950s).

My mother and I traveled to see her and stayed at their huge sheep property.
On meeting my new 'uncle' I realised he was an old queen (gaydar)

I summed up the situation fairly quickly..he needed a housekeeper and a 'wife'..she needed respectibility.

My 'uncle' often went to stay at night in a cottage in the hills where his 'manager' lived. A very handsome bloke about 20 years younger than him -the reason was supposedly so they could get up at 5am to work etc.

My mother would hint darkly that the 'manager' was his illegitimate son as he went to live with my 'uncle' when he was just 14.

The 'manager' eventually inherited everything and I've stayed friendly with him..he's now 82. He worshipped my 'uncle' and was distraught when he died.

So the old boy was a 'pedo' yet he and the manager stayed devoted to each other their entire lies.

totally against the law and an outraged society !!

Today I suppose I would have to report them or be on a charge !

Yes; in this awful new century, superficiality rools and simple solutions to complex problems dominate everything.

So the decent, correct and worthy motive to expose, find and punish real abusers - often in care or foster homes - of children who could not defend themselves, sometimes from years earlier - has thrown up rules easily bent to the advantage of people who have different motives.

I'll bet you dozens of other people knew or guessed the truth about your Uncle and his "manager" - and, like you, ignored or even protected them.

In our local village - Cranleigh - the wonderful actor and superstar idol Dirk Bogarde lived with his "manager". Everyone (and I mean everyone, even us children) knew about the illegal relationship (it was then a crime) and I remember several times when a hack from the nationals was trying to probe people for the truth and was sent away with a flea in his or her ear.

We've grown wiser and more stupid at the same time.

With the benefit of hindsight we can see now that a relationship at fourteen is not the best thing for someone, but fourteen then and fourteen now is not the same thing.
Fourteen year olds used to be considered adults. They had left school and had jobs and in many cultures it is the same today.

A friend at school had a romance with our ancient music teacher (probably not as ancient as I thought, because he is still alive) from the age of fourteen or fifteen. There was no sex before marriage because it was the seventies and that's how things were, but we were horrified all the same.(privately horrified. Nobody said yuk to her face )
They married when she was sixteen and are still together and happy.