The Illusionist's Wife

How illusory is illusion and how real is reality?

The gentle chime of the clock rouses Marie from her nap. Lethargy grasps her in its nauseous grip in the clammy heat of a summer afternoon. Rivulets of sweat make their way from her forehead to the hollow of her neck. She turns, now facing the window, which betrays the magnificent lapis lazuli skies with puffs of white floating aimlessly in the wide expanse. Flocks of birds occasionally scar the blemishless sight. A pleasing view from a drab apartment, a sign that hope must not be lost. She smiles ever so slightly at that thought, wondering where her hopes must lie. In the womb that will never yield a blessing that every woman yearns for. Or a man who walks in and out of her life like the fickle winds of fate.

 

"Jacob," the name is but a sigh issued from her lips. The master of illusions. Her first and last love. She remembers the first time they met. Curious about the handsome man with a twinkle in his eye and a gentle, if teasing, smile, Marie had begged her mother for permission to attend his grand act. Being the eldest of three daughters, she had been brought up in a manner so as to cast a favourable influence on her sisters, that of a proper lady with the gentlest of manners and a timid demeanor. While obedient, Marie abhorred the restrictions that stunted her innate intelligence and freespiritedness. When her mother refused to let her go, Marie, in her first act of defiance, snuck out later in the evening on the pretext of visiting her friend, Gabrielle and quietly went to the auditorium to watch Jacob Montgomery spin his magic on the awestruck audience. On that fateful day, Marie Soncini lost her heart. Her demure beauty was not lost on Jacob either, for she stood out in the crowd, like a diamond amidst rubble. A long walk and a kiss by the river sealed a relationship destined to bloom. But, as Marie thinks now, dejected, every blossom must wither in the face of a harsh winter.

 

They had married, against the wishes of Marie's parents, and had settled into this tiny apartment, overlooking the invisible lines that divided the poor from the well-off and the well fed. Jacob's earnings were just enough for the bare necessities and occasional comforts. Despite the looming poverty, Marie had been happy, basking in her husband's attention, loving the way he allowed her to speak her mind and treated her like an equal, unlike the dumb cow she often had to play under her mother's watchful eye. Life for Marie Montgomery was fulfilling, with all its pleasures and pains in equal measure. All that was missing was a child. Oh, how lovely it would be to have a little Jacob!, she voiced her thoughts to her husband one day. While indulgent of his wife's whims, Jacob was skeptical of added responsibility given their almost frugal existence. But Marie was adamant, the ache for the pleasure of motherhood gnawing at her soul. Jacob had finally relented, more so to watch Marie's brilliant smile light up her face, than any real wish for an heir to his talent, for he had no material wealth to bequeath.

 

Cunning that she is, Fate had other plans. An accident during her adolescent years came back to haunt Marie's present. Suddenly, the light that had lit her dreams and fuelled her hopes for the future had been extinguished beyond any possibility of being rekindled. The woman who once loved life now, gradually, started retreating to a world of her own, where silence echoed and darkness prevailed. Despairing over his wife's worsening health, Jacob suggested adoption. But Marie would hear none of it. She grew moody, sometimes cheerful like her old self, sometimes bitter, cold and distant, a stranger her husband did not recognise. Unable to break through his to his wife, Jacob started staying out late, drinking with his cronies and visiting bawdyhouses.

 

One day, he did not come home. The clock kept ticking, indifferent to Marie's agony. The police searched for Jacob Montgomery at all his favourite haunts, but to no avail. It almost seemed like Jacob had been scooped off the surface of the earth. Heartbroken, Marie returned to the apartment, bereft. Only to find Jacob standing by the window, with his back to her. "Y-you came back! Where have you been!! The only place where I haven't yet looked for you is hell!" He looked at her, with an odd smile and the same old twinkle in his eyes. "You look tired my sweet," he cooed, "why don't you rest for a while? I’ll tell you everything tomorrow, as soon as you wake up."

 

He was gone again the next morning. And it has been the same ever since. Perhaps, he has found someone better than me, Marie thinks, someone far more beautiful and smart and who can give him a child. She expects him to be home any minute now. Just as the thought crosses her mind, the doorbell rings. "It's open, " she says and Jacob walks in with that strange man, who calls himself "Dr. Goletto". She dislikes him, for he resembles her father, who beat her mother when she disobeyed him. "Wake up darling," Jacob says in that soft, mesmerising voice of his, "we don't want to keep the doctor waiting now, do we?" Marie grudgingly allows the doctor to check her, her eyes shifting from Jacob to her mother, who waits at the door, still unwilling to enter the house. "You are doing very well, Mrs. Montgomery. Keep this up, and you shall be as fit as a fiddle in another month or so." "I am fine," Marie argues, "Jacob is just too fussy. He thinks I am ill, but I know I am not." The doctor just smiles awkwardly and tips his hat.

 

Dr. Goletto closes the door behind him, even as Marie's thin voice filters out, " I do not want to see the doctor again, Jacob. Please! I am fine now. And I don't like him." He shakes his head, and finds Marie's mother sitting on the stairs, with an empty, vacant look in her eyes. She does not ask him anything anymore. "We should try the newspaper," is all she suggests. "The shock could kill her," Dr. Goletto replies, "or push her further into the ravines of insanity. No. She must never know that Jacob Montgomery is dead."

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Rogue]

Once again I was quite caught up in the story you had to tell. I enjoyed reading. Thank you for sharing it. :)