Small nitpick. "Late" in this context refers to the fact that she died shortly after Richard sent the letter (definition 2a in [1]) as opposed to a wife he marr

Small nitpick. "Late" in this context refers to the fact that she died shortly after Richard sent the letter (definition 2a in [1]) as opposed to a wife he married "late" in his life. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/late https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/late