Music Against the Night

Smolensk, Russia, February 1837 and February 1860

Belatedly, John’s past words reached Adelaide. He had been dormant for a fortnight, buried for 10 days. She was not astatine his deathbed, having been banished from their matrimony furniture for decades; nor did she be the funeral, to which she received nary invitation. Another pistillate had agelong since taken her place: a usurper’s tears could bedewed cheeks and soak handkerchiefs arsenic well.

The quality had traveled successful a timelier manner. A missive successful Adrien’s astir illegible handwriting arrived successful Smolensk the time aft John’s death, connected the twenty-fourth of January. My beloved mother, I regret being the bearer . . . truthful connected and truthful forth. The wording was ridiculously formal. Adelaide had raised Adrien unsocial until his defection to Moscow astatine seventeen, a small implicit a twelvemonth ago. A begetter could beryllium a stranger; still, his fame readily effaced a mother’s care.

There was nary notation of a ceremonial successful Adrien’s letter, and for a moment, Adelaide indulged the thought of ordering a carriage for Moscow. How flawlessly she could contiguous herself, decked successful her widow’s weeds, astatine the location connected Povarskaya Street, astonishing the servants and embarrassing the mistress. How inexorably she could disapprove: the prime of achromatic horses for the carriage, the euphony played astatine the funeral, the creator hired to marque the decease mask, which, already cast, it was excessively precocious to alter.

But specified an ambush would lone provoke gossip. Adelaide had nary volition of providing yet much amusement for irrelevant people. To alteration her behaviour simply due to the fact that John had died would beryllium a surrender. What did it substance if nary one—not adjacent Adrien—recalled that she, Adelaide Field, was inactive John’s woman by law, and that it was her close to travel his coffin from the chapel of the Moscow Reformed Church to Vvedenskoye Cemetery? Once called the German Cemetery, it present made country for each the foreigners to congregate successful eternity: Germans, Italians, French, Polish, and English, among them Protestants and Catholics arsenic good arsenic godless men similar John.

Clotilde Charpentier, who could play euphony nary amended than a hen could interval and paddle successful the Patriarch’s Ponds, would locomotion down John’s coffin, with a dense achromatic veil to shield herself from the January upwind and people’s appraising looks.

When John had archetypal taken up Clotilde arsenic a mistress, helium had compared her to a favored rabbit, brushed and compliant. Clotilde was a pistillate casual to love, helium explained to Adelaide, who listened calmly, arsenic she knew helium would expect her to. Love was surely not meant to beryllium an casual undertaking, she said. Not for you, helium said, but you’re different. Most radical don’t privation to wage warfare successful the realm of love. Most people, Adelaide thought of reminding him, don’t privation warfare of immoderate kind, but find maine a azygous idiosyncratic whose beingness has not been marked by wars, 1 aft another.

That speech had taken spot years ago. Napoleon Bonaparte, having already mislaid fractional a cardinal soldiers successful Russia, was inactive an emperor dreaming of caller conquests. John and Adelaide were some young capable to judge successful their ain dreams: helium wanted a pistillate to idolize him; she aspired to beryllium a virtuoso successful her ain right, an adjacent to him.

He was the archetypal to admit decision by leaving her for Clotilde. No philharmonic gift, helium made amply clear, was required of a pistillate consenting to dedicate her beingness to him. For Adelaide, the insult was arsenic overmuch to her arsenic to music, the different enactment successful the ménage à trois she thought they had some agreed to. If not for music, Adelaide and John would not person met successful this life. His mistresses were each accidental encounters.

A pistillate casual to emotion was ne'er genuinely loved, though it mattered small now. Let the Muscovites accidental what they wished astir the widow absent astatine the funeral. People could beryllium generous erstwhile they chose to, but much often they were cruel. Either way, they would beryllium incorrect astir Adelaide.

So, with a swanlike equanimity, her agelong cervix sloped ever truthful slightly, her look hidden down a veil, Adelaide greeted the visitant from Moscow. For a fewer years, similar a diligent bride-to-be moving connected her trousseau, she had been accumulating mourning and half-mourning costumes of the astir desirable quality: laces and beads from the choicest vendors successful Moscow, those with Parisian connections alternatively of Prussian; rolls of silk and satin and linen and cotton, each extravagantly black, dissimilar the flimsy, faded worldly worn by communal widows. She had not deigned to haggle with Madame Bassett, the champion French dressmaker successful Smolensk, who promised mourning attire enviable capable to marque a bride yearn for aged age. If Madame Field indispensable unrecorded arsenic a widow, her dresses would suit her status. And she was a widow of benignant agelong earlier John’s death, though nary 1 utilized the word veuve de paille to her face. It was clip to shed the straw portion and formal up successful her champion weeds.

The fashionable young antheral introduced himself arsenic Nicholas Yakovlev, a person of Adrien’s. Naturally Adrien had neglected to marque the travel himself. If this pained her, it was not for the visitant to witness.

When Yakovlev mentioned the clergyman who attended the death-bed, Adelaide expressed astonishment that John had asked to spot a pastor.

“Monsieur Field did not, but his friends insisted.”

His friends—these would person been the idle ladies of Moscow society, Countess Khomyakova and Princess Tuchkova and Countess Orlova and others successful their circle. Buzzing with purpose, they swarmed the country of immoderate promising death. It was lone fitting that their pious faces should beryllium seen to people the departure of a genius. They would pridefulness themselves connected having preserved the psyche of “the Englishman,” wayward for excessively long. That helium was really Irish would marque nary difference.

“I’m amazed Adrien didn’t object,” Adelaide said. “His begetter was a follower of Voltaire. Adrien indispensable cognize that.”

The visitant lone bowed his head.

“I accidental you’ll accidental that Adrien had to travel Leon’s orders.”

“Monsieur Leon has been successful complaint of the household. Madame indispensable not blasted Adrien.”

Leon, twenty-two that year, a bastard, seldom missed an accidental to ingratiate himself with immoderate pistillate who could beforehand his position; a tenor, helium would sing for scraps of attention. Adelaide indicated that Yakovlev should transportation on.

In his accented English, Yakovlev performed John’s dying speech with the clergyman from St. Andrew’s Church. “Are you a Protestant?” helium was asked.  “No.”  “So possibly you’re a Catholic?”  “No.” “Then possibly you’re a Calvinist?”  “Not precisely that. I’m not a Calvinist, but a claveciniste.”

Adelaide lifted her veil to look astatine Yakovlev. “Did helium accidental claveciniste?”

“Monsieur Field was ever fond of a bully pun,” Yakevlov said with a smile. “The satellite volition retrieve his wit.”

People often preferred quotable mediocrity to a existent masterpiece. Adelaide lowered her veil. “Rehearsed,” she said. “He didn’t talk French well. He indispensable person prepared those last words.”

Yakovlev again bowed his head, reluctant to conspire with a jilted woman.

“I utilized to close his French correspondence.”

“Madame is known for her galore talents.”

Adelaide wondered from which crevice Adrien had excavated this insolent creature. “He whitethorn adjacent person considered different valedictions,” she said. “I wouldn’t beryllium amazed if determination were 20 specified compositions.”

“Perhaps Madame has forgotten that Monsieur Field was not renowned arsenic prolific.”

What was Adrien’s volition successful sending her this man? Adrien indispensable cognize she was not to beryllium crushed by anything. To sting her, then? That gadfly had enlisted a comrade successful his run against his mother. “How did you conscionable Adrien?” Adelaide asked. “My lad makes specified clever friends successful Moscow.”

“I wouldn’t presume immoderate adjacent friendship,” Yakovlev replied. “But Adrien thought Madame mightiness assistance wide up a concern matter.”

“He owes you money? Is helium not his father’s heir?”

“Monsieur Field,” the young antheral said, with an aerial of genuine sadness, “left him immoderate unresolved business.”

So, Yakovlev was much spider than gadfly.

A hubby destined for immortality had ended up a debt-ridden, third-rate comedian, laboring implicit his closing lines; a talented kid who’d squandered his promise, consorting with moneylenders. Adelaide nodded, acknowledging Yakovlev’s claim. Then, successful a warmer tone, she asked if helium had heard the quality that Pushkin had died the erstwhile day. “One of my husband’s astir superb friends,” she added.

Yakovlev said helium had heard. “An irredeemable loss,” helium said. “For Russia and for mankind.”

Would this young man, truthful acceptable to parrot the wide opinion, origin symptom to his mother? Adelaide said that nary uncertainty Pushkin would beryllium remembered successful perpetuity by friends and strangers. She did not add: dissimilar John Field. And yet Pushkin’s body, similar immoderate other, would beryllium nutrient for worms. What did it signify, to beryllium remembered? When a beingness ends, nighttime falls. All the daybreaks hence beryllium to others. Men die, astir ever to beryllium forgotten.

This thought returned to Adelaide when, seventeen years later, the quality reached her that Adrien had died, successful a roadside tavern wherever helium often played the pianoforte oregon the fiddle successful speech for vodka. Adelaide had nary tears. A weeping parent could disarm people. She would beryllium called callous due to the fact that she did not let herself to beryllium subjugated by grief.

Six years aft that, decease came for Adelaide. She had arranged everything, conscionable arsenic she had for her bridehood and her widowhood, but she did not rehearse immoderate past words for the hoverers adjacent her bed. Only once, she opened her eyes and looked astatine the ceiling. Hold your tongue, she was heard to say.

Madame Field indispensable beryllium addressing herself, the women said, but Katerina, the orphan Adelaide had raised arsenic a daughter, insisted that she was talking to a ghost. Ghost, what ghost, the women laughed; Madame Field was not superstitious.

Adelaide did not support Katerina. By past she was nary longer attend-ing to immoderate quality conversation. Rather, she heard music. For a moment, she fancied that it was John, playing his compositions for her, waiting for her to reunite with him. Wouldn’t that beryllium a kind-enough ending?

Listening again, she recognized Chopin’s nocturnes alternatively than John’s. Performed by idiosyncratic much adept than John. God, perhaps.

Poor John. Who would retrieve him aft her death? And his music? Adelaide was to articulation Adrien successful the Smolensk Cemetery, acold from wherever John was buried. She had known some men well. Knowing John had made it easier to relinquish him; knowing Adrien had made it harder. They had been men of prodigious talents, their ambitions much prodigious, but their failures had been greater still. If she felt immoderate disappointment, it was successful however small they had known her, however small they had cared to know.

Adrien near nary trace, different nameless musician. John, with his insignificant fame, would go a footnote successful the beingness of Frédéric Chopin. If idiosyncratic were to constitute John Field’s biography, it would beryllium a meager volume, and Adelaide, his estranged wife, would inhabit lone a fewer lines. Music had been chosen for him, and helium remained its puppet. Music had travel to her by chance, yet she had forged a beingness from serendipities, from Pondicherry to Paris to Moscow. Her communicative was much surprising, little predictable. And now, similar him, she would die, to beryllium forgotten soon.

“Enough!” Adelaide said, with a vehemence that frightened Masha, the maid trying to spoon medicine into her clenched mouth. In eleven years of service, Masha had ne'er heard her mistress talk with specified deficiency of composure. She looked up astatine Doctor Staudt, wondering if helium had fixed her the incorrect instructions, unaware that Madame Field was saying nary not to the medicine but, for the archetypal time, to life.

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From Music Against the Night by Yiyun Li. Used with support of the publisher, Fararr, Straus, and Giroux. Copyright © 2026 by Yiyun Li. All rights reserved.