Sentence:  But I am not the penniless nonentity I was when we first met; I can offer an honorable if not a brilliant marriage; and at the very lowest I can provide my wife – my widow, my <WSD>relict</WSD> – with a "decent competence", an assured future. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The surviving member of a married couple after one or the other has died; a widow or widower.