So Boris's wife: do you think she exists? The way Theo frames it makes it sound like he doesn't quite believe in her: we never actually meet her; the children don't look like Boris; Boris doesn't talk about her in contexts other than specifically talking about his wife, which is a BIG CHANGE from the way that he constantly talked about Kotku.
But on the other hand, Theo is a very unreliable narrator, so it's possible that he just really really wants Boris not to have a significant emotional relationship with someone else (another Kotku situation!) and is therefore latching onto all the suggestions that maybe! despite claiming to have a wife! Boris is unattached, and Boris politely aids him in this self-deception by not talking about his wife all the time, because he now realizes that Theo was eating his heart out over the whole Kotku thing and there's no reason to rub this new relationship in his face.
no subject
But on the other hand, Theo is a very unreliable narrator, so it's possible that he just really really wants Boris not to have a significant emotional relationship with someone else (another Kotku situation!) and is therefore latching onto all the suggestions that maybe! despite claiming to have a wife! Boris is unattached, and Boris politely aids him in this self-deception by not talking about his wife all the time, because he now realizes that Theo was eating his heart out over the whole Kotku thing and there's no reason to rub this new relationship in his face.