Remain tender and close to wife (4)
I believe the answer is:
bide
'remain' is the definition.
(biding is a kind of remaining)
'tender and close to wife' is the wordplay.
'tender' becomes 'bid' (synonyms).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close of something is the end).
The last letter of 'wife' is 'e'.
'bid'+'e'='BIDE'
(Other definitions for bide that I've seen before include "Remain (archaic)" , "Tarry" , "Remain or stay (poetically)" , "Remain; await (time)" , "Dwell, stay" .)