Instant suspicion by these wives, initially (9)
I believe the answer is:
twinkling
'instant' is the definition.
('twinkling' can be a synonym of 'instant')
'suspicion by these wives initially' is the wordplay.
'suspicion' becomes 'inkling' (I've seen this before**).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'these wives' is 'tw'.
'inkling' after 'tw' is 'TWINKLING'.
(Other definitions for twinkling that I've seen before include "Sparkling like a star" , "Sparkling - moment" , "How stars appear" , "Shining intermittently" , "for a short time" .)