The Perfect Wife
Amber
Lake
Genre:
Historical Romance
Publisher:
Ice House Publisher
Date
of Publication: 06/18/2015
ISBN:
978.84.16384-21-1
ASIN:
B00WTNVN1G
Number
of pages: 130
Cover
Artist: Borja Puig
Excerpt;
Bath,
Somersetshire, March 1831
“…The
perfect wife has always in mind that the husband’s happiness is her
greatest concern even if she has to give up to her own happiness.
This success is enough to bring her absolute bliss.
She
neither asks the husband any explanation about his words or actions
nor complains if he arrives home late. She keeps in mind that he is
the master of both her and the house.
She
always lets her husband speak in the first place and she listens to
him carefully since any topic he brings up is more important than the
ones she could ever think of. When he lets her talk, she does so in a
humble and plain tone without expanding on typical women trivialities
that end up boring and exasperating the husband.
She
does not overwhelm him with domestic problems or with her interests
and hobbies, which are insignificant compared to those of men…”
Charlotte
closed the book and let out an inelegant snort out of exasperation.
The more she read, the more she thought its content was ridiculous.
How was it possible that aunt Margaret stood up for such nonsense?
She
had lent her the guide and told her to read it thoroughly absorbing
all its instructions dealing with the main rules of behaviour that
should govern her future life of married woman. However, she didn’t
think she could carry them out; she even doubted that some rules were
actually right. Her father had raised her to think and act with
complete freedom as long as it didn’t harm her fellows. He had also
taught her to make a source of satisfaction out of her knowledge, to
be proud of her intelligence and her enthusiasm to learn and reason,
and she wasn't ready to sacrifice everything in or- der to find a
husband. She preferred being single rather than becoming a brainless
puppet in the hands of a man that was going to decide what she had to
say or do. This was such a humiliating idea that she was unable to
accept it.
She
was very fond of her aunt and she appreciated her efforts to marry
her to someone, but she agreed that this attitude was neither proper
of an impeccable spouse-as she claimed-nor the guarantee of the
marriage stability.
Ever
since she arrived in Bath two weeks before, her aunt never stopped
trying to polish her unruly personality and rustic manners. That was
something she was always re- minding her. She also trained her for
social practice in or- der to come across successfully during the
social season that had just started. Everything was designed to get a
proposal, which was the main reason for her being there. Charlotte
imagined that her aunt was making much more effort than she
originally thought in order to transform her into a fair lady. Even
tough, she knew that her pride was preventing her from admitting it
and, of course, from giving up.
With
a resigned but light-hearted sigh, she closed her eyes and fell into
a snooze induced by the calmness the delicious lunch had made her
feel. That was another one of the rules she denied to follow: the
austerity in the diet as the guide indicated which her aunt resolved
to defend so that it forced her to usually sneak in the kitchen and
have an extra food supply to help her get by such sort of penance.
Margaret insisted that a polished lady had to be very sparing with
meals and this fact tormented her. Yes, greediness was a sin, but
even having a bite to eat was too much, so she had decided, together
with the cook’s complicity, to provide herself with all she needed
in order not to starve to death while she was at that house.
She
also disagreed with waking up at dawn to ride a horse around the
park. According to her aunt, it was an elegant and useful habit
considering that at that time many single gentlemen devoted their
time to such a healthy hobby. And, even if no one had ever talked to
her, maybe due to the fact of passing her very quickly, Margaret
didn’t lose heart and insisted on it every day. Anyway, one
nonsense after another she wasn’t easily bearing.
“Have
you gone completely mad, child?”
This
yell behind her back surprised Charlotte, who hastily stood up and
looked at her aunt with an expression of total misunderstanding.
“How
do you dare lie down on the lawn and exposing your face to the sun? I
had almost managed an acceptable skin!” She angrily regretted. “Now
you’ll have to put on the brightening concealer again otherwise
you’ll look like a peddler tonight, with all your face blackened by
soot.”
Charlotte
was terrified when she knew what was expecting her-more than an hour
standing still with a horrible mush on her face made of a mixture of
honey, lemon juice and ground oat. This process had repeated daily,
every morning and every afternoon, and she didn’t see any expected
results anywhere.
“It’s
only been a while, Aunt Margaret. Besides, I am not undergoing again
that torment. If my possible candidates don’t like my appearance,
that is because they aren’t suit- able to even consider them.”
She complained with a surly voice. She was used to life at the
countryside with the healthy sun caressing her face and colouring her
cheeks. She didn’t understand the determination in making it
lighter until showing a pale skin just like the one of the sick,
however fashionable it was.
“Don’t
say stupid things, kid. That colour only gives away your rural origin
and you shouldn’t be very proud of it. A real lady tries to cover
her face from the sun, otherwise she takes the risk that people think
she is in the street all day instead of being at home waiting for her
husband or taking care of her guests, as every good married woman
must do.” She emphasised.
“But
I’m not married, if you remember.” She replied with a certain
resentment. She was again talking nonsense. She did felt proud of her
origins and she missed her home in the countryside.
“I
perfectly remember that, Charlotte. My obligation is in- deed to get
you married. Moreover, that rule applies to future spouses too.”
She reminded her maliciously.
Charlotte gasped
loudly, annoyed by her aunt’s words. “Stop complaining and follow
me to your room. I’ll try to fix the damage you've made. And don't
make those inelegant noises, please; you look like a mare neighing.”
She told her off irritated while she walked into the house with quick
determined pace.
With
bad attitude though, Charlotte had no choice but to comply with the
categorical order. She had promised her father that she would obey
her aunt and learn everything she taught her and she was willing to
patiently bear every sacrifice that promise required.
When
they arrived at the room, Margaret started giving orders to the maids
and Charlotte, resigned as she was, pre- pared herself to bear the
long hours of torture in order to get the appearance every elegant
lady should have, according to Aunt Margaret’s rules.
“I’m
afraid that if you don’t do your part to improve your appearance
and manners, you’ll never have an acceptable gentleman propose to
you. I will regret disappointing your father, who has entrusted me
with the task of marrying you, but every single day it seems to me a
tall order. Of course, it is not completely your fault. It was him
who, against my opinion, insisted on taking on your education after
my beloved sister’s death. I should never have allowed him to raise
you in that small village doing everything you pleased.” She
regretted while she spread that sticky mass on the girl’s face.
Charlotte
bit her tongue to avoid replying to her aunt. How did she dare
criticize her father, who had taken the bur- den of raising and
educating a 10-year-old child when her wife died? Margaret, who
wished to take care of her, had al- ways reproached him for this
decision and she criticized him for not knowing to raise her child
appropriately. However, Charlotte appreciated that her father had
held his ground before his sister-in-law and let her live in Parham,
the small village where she was happy during her 22 years of
existence without worrying about her future.
Nevertheless,
some months before, Margaret convinced him of the need of finding
Charlotte a husband. Thus, she wouldn’t depend on George, his
brother and heir of the house and lands, when her father died.
Charlotte
didn’t want to be a burden for her family. Her brother had a wife
and two children to feed. Her sister-in- law didn’t like that
solution either, so that she agreed on Margaret’s idea and
persuaded her father-in-law to take Charlotte to his matchmaker
sister-in-law. Even if she didn’t completely agree on the idea of
marriage, she complied with her father’s wish and traveled to Bath.
She only set one condition: if after three months she didn’t get
married, she would come back home.
Charlotte
was fully aware that she had little chance of get- ting married and
especially in such a short time. Being the child of an unlucky
baronet and being already 22 without standing out for her beauty,
which Margaret was always re- minding her, made the chances of
getting married-as her family wished-even smaller. The fussy
aristocrats hardy ever married someone that wasn’t the same as them
or that didn’t give a substantial dowry, in case they needed funds.
There was more to be said from local nobility and rural land-owners.
Not only did they expect that their future wife would come together
with a bulky bag of money, but they also required that she provided
them with social contacts among the upper class.
She
didn’t have neither one thing nor the other. She could only provide
great knowledge on the wild flora of the county and on the study of
medieval texts. This wasn’t a very appropriate cultural background
to find a husband-as her aunt claimed-nor was her being prone to
argue, her little willing to obey and her revolutionary ideas-mainly
that a woman could look after herself if she got the chance to try.
Margaret thought that all these facts were the reason why she was
still single at her age, so she had to make an effort if she didn't
want to see another year passing without finding a husband, which was
something that every woman longed. Every single day she spent in the
city, she appreciated more and more her reduced rural world. There
she led a simple and nice life helping her father with his studies on
botany and throwing herself into the literary club she had set up,
formed by other girls around her who were fond of reading. The even
had the chance to count on the experienced involvement of Professor
Davis, recently retired from teaching and a great authority in
history and medieval literature. At the club, she didn’t feel as
the dumb bumpkin that her aunt usually stated.
After
those two weeks at her aunt’s, she started to regret having
accepted to take part in this project. The task of get- ting ready
for marriage was more and more difficult to her and, obviously, it
was giving her little satisfaction if it implied giving up her
hobbies and learning stupid things that seemed to be totally
necessary to be a perfect wife.
She
had had to learn to serve the tea properly, to dress adequately
depending on the time of the day and the event she was going to, to
keep a smile on her face without suffering any jaw ache, to train
herself into embroidery and difficult points of stitching that would
make an impression to her fellow women, to recite boring verses
without looking like a choked goose, to learn by heart the protocol
and re- fined expressions to entertain her guests. Luckily, she had
enough practice to get through those lessons without the least
difficulty, but she felt overwhelmed by the load of things she
ignored and that Margaret said “they were very important to become
a real lady”. This was something she was far from being and the
reason why her aunt hadn’t dared taking her to any relevant event.
During
all that time, her rare social life had reduced to strolling around
that beautiful city and to attending to several visits. That was the
first night she was going to attend to an important event and she
couldn’t help being nervous. It was about a ball in the house of
the Earl and the Countess of Newbury. They were important members of
the local upper class and it was one of the most select and largest
ball of the beginning of the season.
Her
aunt Alfred, Margaret’s husband, was good friends with the earl and
that’s why he invited him to all his parties. In fact, she had
happened to meet the countess in a visit to the museum and she
thought she was very nice. She had even invited her, together with
her aunt, for tea in her great residence. At the meeting, the kind
lady showed interest in her hobbies and confessed that she also liked
Gothic literature. Charlotte was glad to see that they had that
interest in common, but she was even more delighted when she saw her
aunt’s surprised expression. She didn’t considered it suitable to
spend time with these novels. The fact that lady Newbury, who was
considered a flawless lady and a good example by Charlotte’s aunt,
liked those kind of pastimes typical of the working class must have
caused her a big shock.
Book
Description:
A
society full of rules, but when it comes to love, there is no written
rule.
Charlotte
Wilcox, an unfortunate baronet’s daughter, has been living with her
father in a small village since her mother died when she was still a
kid. Although she is happy at home and the fact of remaining single
at 23 is not a worry for her, her relatives put pressure on her to
find a husband who provides for her.
With
that purpose, she travels to Bath, where her aunt Margaret is
responsible for educating her so that she can get a proper marriage
proposal.
Charlotte
thinks that the strict norms that govern aristocratic members of
society are ridiculous and old-fashioned. Thus, she is afraid that
she will never become the perfect wife that her aunt expects and that
every gentleman wishes.
At
the first ball she goes to, she meets Edward Holne, viscount of
Eversley, and all the rules that her aunt had taught her will be
useless before the attraction between them.
About
the Author:
Amber
was born in a village by the seashore in Murcia (Spain) a long time
ago and now she is living in Cartagena with her husband and children.
She has a B.A. in History and she also has a degree in Teaching. She
works in the university in the same city where she lives.
Since
she was a little girl she has been passionate for literature. She
lapped up everything she could get her hands on and very soon she
began to create in her mind her own stories, tales, short stories and
drafts of ambitious young novels.
Her
studies, her work and her family were the reasons why she put on hold
those literary dreams for several years, although she kept on
embodying on paper some ideas that she wished her own novels would
talk about. Fifteen years ago she resumed her old dream and she
started to write regularly. She sent her stories to some
competitions, where she won a few prizes, and also to different
publishing houses.
In
2008 she saw how her dream came true with the publication of her
first novel. Other novels followed that first one, such as El escolta
in 2010, Buscando a la esposa perfecta, in 2012, El escolta (new
version) in 2014 and some others. Thanks to all these novels, she has
been very lucky to see how her readers have warmly welcomed them and
this fact has made her very proud.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/amber.lake
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Letters from My Father’s Murderer: A Journey of Forgiveness (Kregel, June 2015)
