Music Against the Night

Adelaide Field, a woman in Smolensk, Russia, learns of her estranged husband John’s death in January 1837 through a letter from their son Adrien, who lives in Moscow.

John had left Adelaide decades earlier for another woman, Clotilde Charpentier, a mistress Adelaide despised.

Despite being John’s legal wife, Adelaide was not invited to his funeral, nor did she attend.

She reflects on the cruelty of society, which would gossip about her absence, and refuses to change her behavior to conform to others’ expectations.

Adelaide had spent years preparing elaborate mourning clothes, symbolizing her commitment to her widowhood, even though she had effectively been a widow long before John’s death.

She greets a visitor from Moscow, Nicholas Yakovlev, who delivers a message about John’s final moments, including a pun-filled exchange with a clergyman about John’s religious identity.