An Absent Wife (6 page)

“I am getting used to it
s activity.”

Lord Mayo laughed.
“One never gets used to it, but one does miss it upon return to gentler environments, I hear.” Lysander wasn’t sure he was prepared to believe that. “I couldn’t convince you to stay? We need good men. In particular, I need a Lieutenant Governor for Andaman and Nicobar. It’s a savage place that needs to be brought under control.”

“A task I fear would be beyond me,” Lysander said with jovial certainty.
He wasn’t a man that craved such adventure and he had no desire to spend years in some savage foreign land, particularly a prison colony.

“Shame,” the Viceroy said with disappoint
ment. “I was hoping for someone of a less military background for the position. Those military men do tend to approach tasks with a lack of circumspection at times. No offence, Hargeston.” A man who was apparently of military persuasion raised his glass in acceptance.

“I met your wife,” one of the other men said.
“Lovely woman and a wonderful wit. Such a shame she succumbed.”

“Yes,” Lysander said without elaborating.
The statement surprised him as he hadn’t realized that Adele and her lover were socializing. It wasn’t something that would have been possible in London, but again, the rules were different here—more relaxed and flexible. He knew that his wife and Mr Ellingwood were not the only couple in unfortunate circumstances who sought a life in India.

He wondered how long they would have stayed here; if they planned on making this their home.
He also didn’t recognize the woman that they had described meeting either—she sounded like a perfect stranger.   Adele wasn’t a lovely woman, or even a memorable woman as far as he saw, but the people who met her here saw her differently. Perhaps it was Samson Ellingwood that brought this change in her, he thought as he downed the last of his whiskey.

“Come on, girls, it’s time to go,” Tabitha said impatiently down in the foyer, while Adele followed Rosie down the stairs.

“We’re coming,” Rosie yelled back with annoyance. “Are you afraid you’re going to miss something?”

“The
start, and I don’t want the worst seats in the house.” Tabitha shooed them all out of the door and onto the darkening street outside. The setting sun was not quieting the streets where the daily life of moving goods was replaced by people seeking amusement outside their homes.

They normally went for leisurel
y walks at this time of evening, but tonight they were going to see a play called the Colleen Bawn. Adele had been uncertain about going along, but Tabitha had been true to her word and would not take no for an answer. Adele would normally join them if they were going for a walk, but typically declined if they had more extensive plans.

She was actually nervous
, feeling like she was doing something she shouldn’t. Women like her didn’t go to the theatre, but she wasn’t women like her anymore; she was something else and for the type of person she was here, it was perfectly acceptable for her to go to the theatre for the evening with a group of female companions.

T
he theatre was actually more wholesome here than it was in London, where it was the focal point of less admirable activities. It was somewhere Lysander took his mistress—a place where it was acceptable to be seen by others with women who weren’t strictly acceptable in the drawing-rooms of society.

The newly installed gas lights lit their way as the d
arkness took over, casting semicircles of light on the dusty road heading into the centre of town. It was a pleasant city in the evenings, a bit chilly, but it didn’t have the rawness that London had most of the year. Adele had missed London when she’d lived in Devon and she rarely got to visit. While she had grown up in London, she had seldom had the opportunity to explore—being shifted between tutors and schools, her life was regimented, and amusement was typically not part of her day.

She looked over at
her companions who were dressed in their best dresses for the evening. The Sunday church dresses were supposed to be their best, but that wasn’t true—these were their best dresses, the dresses they were seen in on nights out. Rosie looked beautiful with her pale complexion and blonde hair. Tabitha was very pretty as well, but in a more unconventional way. In all, they made for an attractive group and they caught the eyes of the men they passed.

Adele was still not used to the way men regarded women here
—more direct and confronting as a direct consequence of the sheer number of males in the city compared to females. It was a city of youth and energy, and women had their pick of men—not that Adele was interested in picking a man. She wasn’t interested in another relationship and the loss of Samson was still fresh in her mind.

She had adored S
amson and he had been a perfect gentleman to her in all things. He’d said he would have married her of it was possible, but they both suspected that her husband wasn’t going to release her—and Lysander was too young to widow her anytime soon. Samson had harmed his career by being with her and she had worried endlessly over that fact, but he insisted that he would do it again if he’d been given the chance.

S
amson had accepted the harm to his career and for that, Adele would be forever grateful to him. She hoped she had loved him enough for his faith and belief in her. She wasn’t entirely convinced she deserved it, but he had given freely. He’d shown her intimacy and the delights of the bedroom, which she had learnt to crave. His love and support had brought out a different side to her and she enjoyed just being with him, and it didn’t matter what they did, she was just happy. Being with him was easy; he was never gloomy or lamenting, always contented with what was available to them at the time. He was so very different from Lysander. Lysander didn’t strive for change, but he was never contented—at least not in her presence; if he was with his mistress, she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t privy to his life in any way; she only heard things from others.

The only thing Adele regretted from the time she spent with Sa
mson was that he hadn’t given her a child. Her life would be complete her if she had a child to care for. It had been something she’d hoped for since the very start of her marriage, but her husband hadn’t wanted to spend the time with her needed to ensure that happened.

The theatre was brightly lit when they arrived. There were people waiting outside and they arrived just in time for the doors to open.

“They are going to close the theatre soon,” Tabitha said.

“Why?” Rosie said with concern.

“They’re building a new one—
a spectacular one.”

“But we will be without a theatre.”

“For a while.”

“Why can’t they just leave well enough alone?”

“Because this just isn’t grand enough.”

Adele looked around the decor and she did see the point.
Even with her limited experience, she could tell that compared to London’s theatres, this was very simple. There was only painting on the walls and ceilings, and they weren’t expertly done. There wasn’t a gold leaf in sight. In fact, it was a humble theatre and the people of Adelaide must have decided that it didn’t do them justice.

“We’ll just have to find other ways of amusing ourselves.”
Tabitha eyes narrowed as she watched a man across the hall. It was the same man that had been calling for her on their lawn the other evening. He was there with a blond woman with horsy teeth. “That took all of two minutes,” Tabitha said with distaste. “Good riddance.”

The theatre itself was
slightly dusty and the leather-covered chairs looked well-worn. They took seats in the centre of the theatre while Rosie was distracted by two men whom she obviously knew.

“She is such a flirt,” Tabitha said.
“You should take a few lessons from her. You’re not planning on being the mourning widow forever, are you? Some man will come along and sweep you off your feet.”

“I think I will just stick to being a simple school teacher for now.”
Adele wasn’t sure she could handle an entanglement with another man; she’d relinquished her whole life and she wasn’t sure she could bear the emotional turmoil of another relationship. While her time with Samson had been lovely and fulfilling, getting to that point had been difficult.

The heavy velvet curtains drew back and the play started.
Adele didn’t know much of the play other than it had first shown in New York before traveling across the world. It started and the characters were introduced, starting with a nobleman who had a secret wife living across a lake—one he loved but was ashamed of. Adele frowned as the plot of the play developed. He admonished the girl for her peasant ways when he was really upset that he couldn’t marry a lovely and also wealthy noblewoman whose attention was being vied for by a number of characters.

Adele couldn’t stop the play from resonating with her own situation.
There was a distinct difference in that the character in the play did or had loved this woman he had married in secret. This was a huge point of difference with her own life, because her husband had never loved her. She hadn’t immediately realized Lysander’s dislike and contempt for her. He’d been beautiful and perfect when he had first been introduced to her.

Adele looked up at the facade of the house in Mayfair as they arrived right on time. Her father had been very nervous for this dinner and he’d even come and advised her on the dress she was to wear.

“This is a very important dinner,” he’d said to her gravely.
“We are meeting the Warburtons—a very important and distinguished family. Their importance goes back for generations and having association with them shows a distinct improvement in the position of our family name.”

They’d arrived
in her father’s best carriage, which was newly imported from France with dark burgundy lacquer reflecting every point of light. Father was very proud of this carriage and would use it anytime he wished to impress someone. Adele suspected that her father would have dearly liked to have a family crest to paint on its side, but it was instead decorated with some elegant swirls in a special metallic paint brought over from Russia.

They were dressed in the latest Parisian fashion and Adele knew her dress was gorgeous.
As it turned out, they were better dressed than the family they were there to meet, having been shown into a parlor where they were introduced to the family, a man, his sister and a son. The house was older and less sumptuous than their own, but these people were better than them, irrespective of how richly decorated their possessions were. It was an inescapable fact that this family was of the right background and they were of the wrong, and all the money in the world wouldn’t change that.

Adele showed every politeness as had been ingrained in her from a young age.
Her school had ensured that she knew every point of etiquette for handling herself in just such situation as this. She knew she would embarrass her father if she did anything wrong and she had to combat her nerves to clear her mind, but she couldn’t dismiss the fact that she was quietly terrified.

Their son was young and handsome, maybe even the most handsome man Adele had even met.
He had brown hair perfectly cut, blue eyes and strong features. He cut an attractive figure as he looked relaxed if not a little bored sitting on one of the settees. His forefinger played with the rim of his glass as they chatted lightly prior to being called by the dinner bell. Adele noted how different his hand was to hers—bigger and stronger, and masculine. She had never noticed a man’s hands before, but she noticed his.

In his presence, she
felt self-conscious, but she was spared from notice, although she was placed opposite him when the dinner bell was finally rung. His clear eyes scanned the table and Adele looked down to her lap every time his gaze went anywhere near her. Her breath hitch whenever he would look at her and she was sure her face blushed to show it.

The men discussed politics and business throughout the dinner.
Lysander had a clear, deep voice and an obvious distaste for some of the political manoeuvring that had been consuming everyone’s attention of late.

She joined her mother and Lord Warburton’s sister
, Isobel, when it was time for the women to retreat to the parlor. The woman chatted about some landscaping changes that were proposed for Hyde Park. Isobel was kind enough, but even the light conversation couldn’t make up for the fact that they were virtual strangers.

When it was time to say farewell, Adele’s hand shook slightly as Lysander obligingly took her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. His lips only made the barest of touches, but Adele didn’t care, it made her heart race all the same.

“That man will be your husband,” her father said when the carriage had taken off down the street.
Adele blinked to take in the astounding information; it didn’t seem real. When she imagined her husband, she hadn’t even contemplated someone as handsome and intelligent as Lysander Warburton. Collecting herself, she felt her breath and heartbeat quicken as she absorbed the news. She had never in her wildest dreams hoped for such a match and she didn’t even dare think about how well her future looked.

Adele watched the scene unfold when the nobleman’s friend tried to have the peasant girl murdered to free his friend to marry the well-placed and beautiful noblewoman. Adele felt her heart constrict. She wanted to leave, not just the play, but all the feelings it brought out of her, but she was stuck. There were people on both sides of her and she would disrupt the whole room if she got up and insisted people let her get out of the row.

Instead she closed her eyes and tried to think of S
amson and all the good things he had brought to her life. Thinking of her husband hurt and she hadn’t come all this way for that hurt to follow her. She should have tried harder to decline the evening and this was her punishment for not standing her ground. She would be well and safe in her little room. She liked her small life here; it was simple and it was easy.

The play ended with the nobleman lamenting how his wife had been treated and they
left happily together. Love prevailed and conquered. Real life wasn’t like that, she knew. Love didn’t always win; sometimes it lost.