I finished reading the Lady in Waiting book.
No I would never want to be a lady in waiting after reading what she had been through. Two grown sons dying, one of AIDS and one of side effects of heroin addiction a husband who didnt care for her and took her help for granted, 3 different estates and moving all the time. She got on with it but thats only cos aristocrats have this cushy insurance policy which is their wealth. They actually might not have any money at all, having spent it, or squandered it but she had the title to some land and thats what mattered.
asked why her husband married her and not anyone else, his response was 'you're the only one who would put up with me'. hmm. a less stoic person with no stiff upper lip wouldnt have.
This was a lady who went to church every sunday, but her son wanted to be a buddhist. Im not really getting my head round that, but back in those days if you were an aristoctatic wife it meant you had to look after your husband who was the child, and get nannies to look after your children. Grown men arent easy to look after when they have tantrums. Even if your husband was ten to twenty years older, your duty was to look after him like his mother. And she was writing, everyone in her circle had more than one partner in their marriage. It was so common it wasnt even remarked on.
I think muslims are at least being honest about having more than one wife. I suppose that allows them to be faithful and infidel at the same time?!