An Absent Wife Read Online Free Page B

He didn’t want to know her thoughts or what she’d been thinking when she’d deserted her home and her husband, or the feelings she’d had for the man she’d shared a room with, likely very similar to this one.
    He received a message a few days later informing him th at Mr Parson was in the lobby, and he went downstairs to met the man, who again gave him the Colonial Office’s deepest condolences for his loss. Mr Parsons had been charged with delivering an invitation to dine with the Viceroy at the end of the week.
    Lysander graciously accepted the invitation , saying that it would be an honor and a delight.
    “Mr Parsons, there is one thing I would like to ask of you,” Lysander said before Mr Parsons left. “I would like to see where my wife and...Mr Ellingwood’s remains are.”
    “Of course,” Mr Parsons said. “You understand there will be no sign of them.” Lysander nodded and Mr Parsons went to speak to the manager.
    They rode out int o the madness of the city in Mr Parsons’ carriage. Lysander couldn’t orientate himself in this city at all, but Mr Parsons seemed to know where he was going and they arrived along a muddy looking river, where uneven stairs went down to terraces by the river.
    “This is where...” Mr Parsons said uncomfortably, “where cadavers are burnt and disposed of. The Indians spread the ashes in the river. It is a great honor in their religion. We don’t usually follow this custom with British citizens, but in the case of infectious disease, it is the best thing.”
    The various confronting smell s gave way to another. It wasn’t a smell he knew well, but he knew without a doubt what it was. A pyre was burning not far away from where they were standing. Lysander pulled out his handkerchief and covered his nose, but it did nothing to deter the pervasive stink.
    “This is where she...?”
    “Yes,” Mr Parsons said. “Unfortunately there was no one from our office here at the time. Due to the nature of her illness...” he drifted off. “The outbreak has abated, but we do get them coming through from time to time. Damned unlucky in this case.” Mr Parsons called to someone, speaking the local language. A man came forward. He wore nothing other than a cloth wrapped around his private area and another on his head. “This is the man who saw to the victims from the hotel.”
    The man spoke animatedly, moving his head oddly sideways as he did so, turning his palm over as he spoke.
    “He said the man ’s ashes were spread in the river,” Mr Parsons conveyed.
    Lysander sighed at the lack of a proper Christian ritual. “Wait, what about the woman?”
    Mr Parsons spoke to the man who started shaking his head again. They spoke animatedly between them as Lysander watched. Mr Parsons finally turned to him and opened his mouth, seemingly trying to formulate his words. Lysander narrowed his eyes knowing that something uncomfortable was about to come. He didn’t want to hear about something unfortunate, or worse, something uncondonable happening to his wife’s body.
    “He says...” the man blustered and Lysander stared at him intently. “He says... there was only one body—a man.”
    “What of the woman?” Lysander said through clenched teeth.
    Mr Parsons turned back to the man and spoke rapidly before turning back.
    “ The only woman he saw was alive; she was standing about where you are. She had a yellow dress and she had hair like—” Mr Parsons said something he couldn’t understand. “It is a grain that is a light brown color.”
    “Is my wife dead or not?” Lysander said icily.
    “I think I had better...I need to speak to some people. If you would bear with me for a moment.”

Chapter 3
     
     
     
    Adele looked around the classroom where she was now the mistress. The children were gone for the day, but there was still work for her to do. It had been her second month of teaching and she had succeeded in overcoming the nervousness she’d initially felt as she