The Awfully Wedded Couple

Suspects: Mr. Arthur Welford and his wife Nora.

Age: 41 and 36 respectively.

            Arthur is the eldest son and heir to the Welford fortune. Although he holds a position working under his father, Ezra, in the offices of Welford's Confectionary, his interest in the business is limited only to however much money can be made from it. He is eager to stay in parental good favor, particularly as he knows his father has little time for him and would be glad to cut him off without a penny, leaving everything to the younger son instead. In order to please his mother he has even married where she chose for him, despite the fact that he and his wife can barely stand to be in the same room.

            Never brave enough to rebel openly, but still chafing against his mother's strict rules and her determination to keep everything in order, Arthur has been known to complain about being stifled. He does not see his life as advantaged or privileged and wallows a great deal in self-pity. To cheer himself up, he engages in frequent affairs or "peccadilloes", as he calls them, with women of a lower social class. The adoration with which these women look up to him and are thrilled by anything he can do for them, makes Arthur Welford feel important and powerful in ways that nothing else in his life ever can.

            At home he is a creature under his mother's watchful eye, directed by her in all matters; at work he remains under his father's thumb, given only meaningless tasks that he cannot make a mess of. With every decision in his life taken out of his hands, he has been rendered impotent. It's almost pointless for him to get up every morning. Now, frustrated and seething deeply inside, he must also contend with a wife who despises him and spies upon his every move.

            If only he could get away from them all. Sometimes he nurses that daydream. But, of course, he has no real intention of leaving Welford Hall. One day, all this will be his and he won't let them take it away from  him, even if he has to cling on with bloody fingernails. He's suffered for forty one years and he intends to collect his due when the time comes.

            The sooner the better.

* * * *

     

       Nora, Arthur's wife, never wanted to marry. It was all arranged by the Welfords who wanted her for their son because of her pedigree lineage and the dowry promised by her family. But after the marriage that dowry was slow to be handed over and, eventually, the amount her parents managed to scrape together was barely adequate. Luckily, the aristocratic lineage could not be faulted, and that— in the socially ambitious Ezra Welford's eyes— was more important than money, otherwise Nora suspects she would have been sent back to her parents like an unopened letter in the post.

            It could be said that this "misunderstanding" over the dowry started the union off on a bad foot, but frankly it did not have a chance from the very beginning. The bride and groom took an instant dislike to each other and, in this case, familiarity was not likely to make first impressions improve. While Arthur is mercenary and selfish, Nora is coldly materialistic and embittered. Now, inexorably stuck together in that house, the only way they can manage their marriage is by over-indulging in their own not-so secret vices. For Arthur it is women; for Nora it is gin.

            If she could get out of this marital hell, Mrs. Arthur Welford would gladly run off and never come back, but divorce is a scandal neither can afford. They are trapped, as the vows declared, until death. Now, like her husband, she waits impatiently for the day when she becomes mistress of Welford Hall. Then she can start making some changes and running the place the way she wants. When that happens she can finally begin to reward herself for all this misery. The servants will be forced to obey her orders and her rules. The idea of that power in her hands is certainly a seductive force, for a woman who has been pushed around, used for other people's schemes, and belittled all her life.

            Oh yes, Nora is ready to take over her rightful place as mistress of Welford Hall.

            The sooner the better.

            But with Lady Isolda ruling the roost nobody can go anywhere or do anything, can they? Not without her approval.

            Only one idea comforts Nora. It is, ironically the same idea that soothes Arthur's angry, ruffled feathers too when he's feeling particularly resentful. Unbeknownst to the unhappy couple, it is the one thought they have in common— that one day Lady Isolda will be gone.

            And the sooner the better.

 

 

Find out who killed Lady Isolda Skefflington Welford in "BESPOKE". Coming to an online book store near you on February 20th, 2019.

(Image: "Arrufos" by Belmiro de Almeida 1887)