Drabbles

Your Wife Is Making You Weak

The coach rattled along the cobbled streets, and the horses' hooves clacked on the ground in a familiar pattern. They were on their way to the first ball of the season in a grand ballroom somewhere in Mayfair, London. Where exactly, he had no idea. Rosamund had mentioned it once or twice during luncheon, but he hadn't paid enough attention. This was not her first season, yet she behaved like it was for some strange reason. She had never been too enthusiastic about attending any balls or going to dress fittings in London — until this year. He had briefly wondered what had changed her mind, but Rosamund was old enough and he had more important things to take care of than his sister's sixth London season, or was it her seventh? He was not sure. Either way, Robert wished it was their coach ride back home after the last ball of the season, all these balls that would follow this one already exhausted him and he could only guess how Cora must have been feeling.

She looked beautiful, his darling wife, so very beautiful — especially in the soft yellow hues from the gas lamps that bathed her features in this warm glow. How it had taken him so long to realise just how incredibly lucky he was to have her as his wife was something he would never be able to understand. She was looking out the window, her eyes following the houses they passed by on their way, and the softest hint of a smile tugged at her lips.

They weren't speaking. There was no need for them to, they would have more than enough opportunities for that throughout the entire evening. Robert had no intentions of leaving her side even once this evening if he could help it. This coach ride was their calm before the storm.

Robert was thankful that he did not have to spend the ride together in a coach with his mother and sister. He was sure that there was another storm well underway already and he did feel for his father who would have to negotiate between the two headstrong women, which was not at all an easy task.

When the coach came to a halt in front of a stately London home of yet another English nobleman he had surely met before but could not recall, he squeezed her hand to garner her attention. "Are you ready, my dear?"

Cora blinked a few times, averting her tired gaze back to her husband on the seat opposite her. "With you by my side, yes," she replied, smiling widely at him.

He stepped out first, reaching out his arm to help her disembark as gracefully as possible, before he put his top hat on and straightened his tie. They waited patiently out in the rather chilly April night for the coach with his parents and sister to arrive. Robert knew Cora must have been freezing, and had it not meant getting into another quarrel with his mother, he would have quickly draped his coat across her slender shoulders. But alas, he knew that would not be deemed appropriate, and so he had to helplessly watch her pull her shawl tighter around herself.

A while later, after a nice, yet rather uneventful dinner, Robert stood next to the large dance floor with his family and had to listen to his mother giving his sister the same advice she always seemed to give.

"And Rosamund. Remember what I told you. You are entitled to your opinions, but don't speak them on a crowded dancefloor. That sort of thing tends to run the people off you want to attract."

Robert looked at his sister and saw how she rolled her eyes. She had had to listen to that countless times throughout her seasons already and it did not surprise him to find her sick of statements such as that one. Though, he supposed, his mother was right. Most men were not like him. Most men only wanted a pretty wife, not one with well-founded opinions of her own. What most of his fellow man had not realised was that the two were not exclusive — his wife had both, beauty and brains, each in large capacities. He truly was one lucky man with a bright future ahead of him.

"When do you think it is appropriate for us to leave? I do feel quite tired already," she asked lowly, only for him to hear. She was well aware they had only just arrived and it would still be a while until they would be able to go home, but she had found it was always best to tell Robert these things well in advance so that he could keep them in mind for later when the need truly arose.