Husk

Well, when he says it like that, it does seem a little presumptuous. He blanches a little, which is pretty impressive in someone who's already corpse-white. "I just meant, living in close quarters and... Keeping a house together. You could certainly have concubines without a formal wife, but, most people who could keep more than one would be in the sort of family where marriages are arranged, anyway." He is now officially babbling, sure he's stuck his foot in his mouth and grasping for any qualifiers that might let him back off from the whole idea.