A New York heiress and socialite in her new book describes how her almost 20-year marriage to her hedge-fund executive husband fell apart after she got a phone call from a stranger who said that he was having an affair. Flobelle "Belle" Fairbanks Burden, the granddaughter of New York socialite Babe Paley, said she first ignored the call from an unknown number.
She recounts in an excerpt from her forthcoming book "Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage," published by The Times of London, that she had no idea that the call would soon change everything for her. "I'm trying to reach Belle. I'm sorry to tell you this, but your husband is having an affair with my wife," the voicemail said.
Facing the Truth
In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced life into lockdown, the couple and their two youngest children retreated to quarantine at their $7.5 million second home in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. With Henry Davis's hedge fund operations and Burden's legal work shifting online, their professional lives — and family routine — suddenly became fully remote.
Burden, now 56, said she confronted Davis, 60, after learning about the alleged affair. According to her, he admitted to the relationship, telling her it was with a much younger woman he had met through work.
He reportedly said he was "embarrassed," claimed the affair had lasted only "a few weeks," and insisted it was already over.
Burden also wrote that, after the relationship came to light, the other woman reportedly tried to take her own life — a claim she attributes to a message she says was sent by her devastated husband.
"I think a month," the mistress's husband wrote, in response to a text Burden sent asking about the duration of the affair.
"But I can't text because my wife has tried to kill herself. She's in an ambulance," the text continued.
Divorce the Only Option
The next day, Davis told Burden he wanted a divorce. She wrote that he left without even saying goodbye to their children and later called her, delivering what she described as a shockingly cold and final end to their marriage.
"I thought I was happy but I'm not. I thought I wanted our life but I don't," Davis reportedly told Burden. "I feel like a switch has flipped. I'm done."
"You can have the [Martha's Vineyard] house and the [New York] apartment. You can have custody of the kids. I don't want it. I don't want any of it," he reportedly added.
Burden said she was never given a clear explanation for why their 21-year marriage suddenly collapsed. After that, she wrote, Davis stopped answering her calls altogether, leaving her without answers or closure.
"I'll answer what I want, when I want. I'll speak when I want. I'll decide when I want," Davis reportedly texted Burden.
Burden wrote that Davis' family initially stayed in touch with her, but then suddenly pulled away, telling her they needed to stand by him.
Nearly five years on, she says Davis now sees their three children only from time to time — usually for dinners or the occasional tennis match — and has largely stayed out of the day-to-day responsibilities of coparenting.
"There have been no handovers or holidays since the day he left," Burden wrote, adding that she doesn't know whether Davis is still with his mistress or whether he had any other affairs over the course of their marriage.
