Chapter 7
As was proper, Arabella went to her wedding night a virgin and almost entirely ignorant of what was in store for her. Where a mother might have told her what to expect Arabella had none and without any other female relatives to advise her she was left to her own fears. She knew it was supposed to hurt and that she wouldn't enjoy it but beyond that she was at a loss.
Their first night of married life was not a success to say the least. Tommy was used to partners who were willing, enthusiastic even - or at least paid to appear so. In his unthinking way he assumed that his new bride would be likewise. Instead, despite his best efforts, she had lain there rigid with her eyes tightly closed; her only sound had been a sharp cry of pain when he entered her and then muffled sobs. Horrified and confused, Tommy had withdrawn. This was beyond his experience and he had no words to comfort her.
Resting a gentle hand on her shoulder he said helplessly. 'I'll leave you alone now. Let you get your rest.' Then he had moved back to his old rooms.
It was the worst possible thing he could have done. Had he stayed and tried to talk to her they might have found a way through it together but by leaving he had left her convinced that that all there was to marital relations was pain, blood, and a few moments of humiliation.
The next day Arabella had refused to leave her rooms and it was nearly a week before she agreed to actually come downstairs; when she finally did so she avoided all contact with her husband. For his part, Tommy threw himself in to his work. He took to working late and sleeping in his office unwilling to come home to a wife who flinched when he approached her.
Polly was deeply confused by the coldness between the couple. If Tommy had taken to beating his wife then she could have understood it but she knew that was not the case yet still Arabella cringed every time he entered a room and never once looked him in the eye. Polly mused and fretted over the situation for nearly two months before she could take it no more. She was at Ruben's studio posing for yet another of the portraits that he loved to paint of her and the thoughts that were going round and round in her head in the silence were driving her mad. Eventually, needing a break, she reached over for a cigarette.
'I'm sorry my darling', he said ruefully, 'I was completely caught up in my work. I should have realized that you needed to rest.' He gave her one of his wicked grins letting her know that 'rest' was not exactly what was on his mind. Expressionlessly she crossed the room towards him. Pausing just outside of his reach she ran her eyes appraisingly up and down his slender body. Then with a wicked grin of her own she launched herself at him.
'Distract me Ruben, for god's sake', she said a little desperately.
As they lay together afterwards Polly explained her concern at the curious state of Tommy's marriage and the extreme fear shown of him by his new bride.
'As I recall', Ruben said musingly 'Her mother is dead and she has no sisters.' Polly nodded. 'What you have to understand', he said carefully, 'is that her life growing up was completely different from yours.'
Polly rolled her eyes. 'Do you think I don't know that?'
'I don't just mean the obvious things – the fact that she grew up with servants and a governess, or that she was presented at court, and so on – I mean the things that matter. She's been sheltered from reality for the whole of her life. A woman of her class would have been told since birth that her only worth came as a marriage piece and that that her final value would be entirely dependent on her virginity. Whereas her brothers would have been encouraged to gain experience with women, from her earliest days it would have been drummed in to her that men should always be resisted. Any young girl of her acquaintance who was found to have been dishonoured would have been instantly removed from her circle and they would never have met again. Once married she would expect to feel no pleasure in the act of love. It would simply be her wifely duty; something to be endured until she gave her husband an heir.' Ruben paused to light a fresh cigarette. 'Unlike you she would never have lived in close enough proximity with other people to see them coupling. At best she may once have seen a stallion covering a mare and I think we can both agree that that isn't much preparation for your wedding night'.
Polly listened with growing concern, mind racing. She recalled Arabella's brittle smile as she had helped her pin on her veil the morning of the wedding; the girl's fierce grip on her hand as Polly had helped her to undress on her wedding night before Tommy's arrival. Although usually so perceptive Polly had simply not been able to comprehend the true reason for the girl's fragility.
'The night before her wedding', Ruben continued, 'a girl's mother, or perhaps an older sister, would usually give her a very brief idea of what to expect. As she had neither I expected that you would do it – although I see from your face that you did not.'
'I didn't even think of it,' she said, nibbling distractedly at one of her nails. 'How could I know?'
'In retrospect, you couldn't', he said stroking her cheek comfortingly. 'Perhaps I should have said something to you but it's really not something a man is usually involved in so I didn't give it much thought. I only heard all this from my wife after our wedding. Fortunately her sister was a very plain spoken woman so nothing came as too much of a shock for her. As it is poor Arabella probably went to her marriage bed in total ignorance and with nothing but old warnings of pain and debasement running through her mind. I doubt that's a situation that your nephew has ever encountered before – and probably not one he would have been equipped to handle without some prior warning. It's hardly surprising that things went badly and have been a little strained between them ever since.'
'Shit', said Polly roughly. 'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' She ground out her cigarette angrily and flopped back on to the divan. 'What the hell do I do now?'
