A Wife's Duty

Helen recounts the early years of her marriage to a friend, tracing the change from shared contentment to anxiety about her husband's wishes. After visiting Paris and Marseilles, she and Seymour return to their improved country home. He hopes they can make a life centred on each other, while Helen believes his fondness for society will eventually draw him towards London. Spanish lessons and a proposed book give him occupations, until newspaper accounts of balls and exhibitions begin to command his attention.

Amelia Opie's domestic tale gives everyday conversations a central place in Helen's account of affection and duty. When her husband asks her to act in private theatricals, she considers whether joining him will help protect their marriage despite her dislike of the company. Her mother questions the cost of concealing distress and yielding personal judgment to a husband's will. For readers interested in fiction about marriage, these scenes offer competing views of devotion, responsibility and the pressure to appear cheerful.