She had, very likely, been the clinging vine when she should have been the sturdy oak.
Very well, then.

(Billy lifted her head and threw back her shoulders.) He should have no further cause for complaint.

She would be an oak.

She would cultivate that comfortable indifference to his comings and goings.
She would brush up against other interests and personalities so as to be "new" and "interesting" to her husband.

She would not be tyrannical, exacting, or jealous.