He starts from this premise a series of
conjectures. The husband should reason like the judge; there are only
three people in society whom he can suspect when seeking the lover of
his wife.
LXXX.
A lover is never in the wrong.
LXXXI.
The lover of a married woman says to her: "Madame, you have need of
rest. You have to give an example of virtue to your children. You have
sworn to make your husband happy, and although he has some faults--he
has fewer than I have--he is worthy of your esteem. Nevertheless you
have sacrificed everything for me. Do not let a single murmur escape
you; for regret is an offence which I think worthy of a severer
penalty than the law decrees against infidelity. As a reward for these
sacrifices, I will bring you as much pleasure as pain." And the
incredible part about it is, that the lover triumphs. The form which
his speech takes carries it. He says but one phrase: "I love you." A
lover is a herald who proclaims either the merit, the beauty, or the
wit of a woman. What does a husband proclaim?
To sum up all, the love which a married woman inspires, or that which
she gives back, is the least creditable sentiment in the world; in her
it is boundless vanity; in her lover it is selfish egotism.
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