In the novel Absent in the Spring, William “Bill” Wray is married to Barbara. They live in Baghdad with their newbord child Mopsy Wray.
William is one of the reasons that Joan Scudamore rushed to Baghdad on hearing that her daughter Barbara was ill. Joan felt that William was impractical and that there would be chaos in the household without efficient control. She left after some time, fully satisfied that she had put everything in good order and having received, it seemed, the profuse gratitude of William and Barbara.
Only at the end of the book do we learn that William had been in fact very efficient in what he was doing. Barbara wrote to her father Rodney Scudamore and complimented William on always being there and being ready and able to fend off her mother when he needed to and ultimately helped in keeping the truth away from Joan. In the book we see examples of how he managed to keep Joan busy and steer conversations away from discussions of Barbara's illness.