Adrian lingered for a long time with old man Edwards words in his mind. You need a woman in the house. Yes, he knew it was true. In the evenings, when he returned to his empty flat, the silence crushed him. The cold walls and the scent of unworn clothes in Sophies wardrobe reminded him of loss more than the graveyard itself.
After several months, the neighbours began dropping hints. Adrian, theres a young widow moved to the market townperhaps you might meet her A quiet girl comes to church, I could put in a word But nothing moved him. Until one day, when Edward took him by the arm and led him to the house of a distant cousin, Jane.
Jane was not beautiful by the villages standards. Her face was round, her nose too large, her eyes a faded colour, and her gait heavy. The women whispered, Poor Adrian, after Sophie, look what hes lowered himself to. And so the cruel nickname stuckthe Ugly Wife.
Yet what they did not see was her gentleness. Jane cooked with patience, drew water from the well without complaint, and, above all, knew how to listen. Adrian, who for months had had no one to share his sorrows with, found in her a rare calm.
Their wedding was simple, without fuss. Two witnesses, a vicar, and a few candles. Adrian felt no spark of passion, but something elsean anchor. And after years of storms, an anchor is more precious than any beauty.
At first, people watched him with pity. He only chose her so he wouldnt be alone. No luck with women, that one. But gradually, the whispers faded. Adrians house, once echoing with emptiness, now smelled of warm bread and dried herbs. On long winter evenings, Jane read to him in a soft voice from the old books Sophie had left behind, and Adrian closed his eyes, feeling the pain grow dull.
One day, Edward, the old friend, stopped by. He stood in the doorway, watching Jane sew by the window while Adrian brought in firewood. Smiling beneath his white moustache, he murmured, Pretty or plain, it doesnt matter. What matters is youve found each other.
Adrian turned to him and, for the first time since the funeral, truly smiled. Perhaps the village would always call her the Ugly Wife, but to him, Jane was lifes unexpected giftproof that true beauty lies not in the face, but in the peace it brings to the soul.
And in that peace, Adrian felt, at last, that he was living again.
