other advantages.

Let us agree, Marquis, that in love, the mind is made more use of than
the heart. A liaison of the heart is a drama in which the acts are the
shortest and the between acts the longest; with what then, would you
fill the interludes if not with accomplishments? Possession puts every
woman on the same level, and exposes all of them equally to
infidelity. The elegant and the beautiful, when they are nothing else,
have not, in that respect, any advantage over her who is plain; the
mind, in that case making all the difference. That alone can bestow
upon the same person the variety necessary to prevent satiety.
Moreover, it is only accomplishments that can fill the vacuum of a
passion that has been satisfied, and we can always have them in any
situation we may imagine, either to postpone defeat and render it more
flattering, or to assure us of our conquests. Lovers themselves profit
by them. How many things they cherish although they set their faces
against them? Wherefore, let the Countess, while cultivating her
decided talent for the clavecin, understand her interests and yours.

I have read over my letter, my dear Marquis, and I tremble lest you
find it a trifle serious. You see what happens when one is in bad
company. I supped last night with M. de la Rochefoucauld, and I never
see him that he does not spoil me in this fashion, at least for three
or four days.




XXIX