READERS will have noticed an enigmatic advert in Saturday's Echo which took the form of a blank page with the simple message 'I love you - R'.
The mysterious note on page 28 was placed in the newspaper by an apologetic husband after he failed to give his wife a 40th birthday to remmeber.
He said: "I did not forget about her birthday, I just ran out of time and did not meet her expectations, and she was very unhappy with me, to say the least.
"She arranged my 40th birthday a few months ago and that was fantastic. She was very upset, and I did not want to just give an excuse, so I decided to take out the advert."
The husband from Winchcombe, who asked not to be named, said he had considered choosing a fancy design for the full-page advert.
But he changed his mind after his wife inadvertently discovered his original plan and voiced her disapproval.
"I had planned a page with graphics, but my wife saw in my email inbox an email from the Echo about sizes etcetera and said I shouldn't do it, so I told her I wouldn't.
"So I was umm-ing and aah-ing about whether to do it, and then I decided to take a chance and redesign the page, cut all the pictures and patterns, just say a few words and be simplistic."
And the gamble paid off – his wife was delighted with the romantic message when she spotted it in the Echo and the couple, who have three young children, spent a happy weekend together.
"My wife thought it was fantastic," he said. "She thought it was very classy. We will get the page framed.
"It has turned out to be a lovely story, I'm pleased to say."