Final answer:
Robert requested that the narrator's wife keeps a package until she contacts him in the future, asking him to open it. This exchange took place on the last day of her employment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Robert requested from the narrator's wife that she keeps a package until she hears from him, at which point he would ask her to open it. This occurs in the story when the wife is saying her goodbyes to Robert on the last day of her employment. She expresses her desire to give Robert something to remember her by and asks him to hold onto it until she contacts him in the future.
The exact passage: "I want to give you something," she said. "You will not want it now, so I shall ask you to keep it until you hear from me. You gave me your address a long time ago, when you were making that drawing. Some day I shall write to you and ask you to open this. You must not come to tell me goodbye this morning, but I shall be watching you when you go ashore. Please don't forget that."