The Misfortune of Too Sudden an Avowal


I think as you do, Marquis, the Countess punishes you too severely for
having surprised an avowal of her love. Is it your fault if her secret
escaped? She has gone too far to retreat. A woman can experience a
return to reason, but to go so far as to refuse to see you for three
days; give out that she has gone into the country for a month; return
your tender letters without opening them, is, in my opinion, a
veritable caprice of virtue. After all, however, do not despair
whatever may happen. If she were really indifferent she would be less
severe.

Do not make any mistake about this: There are occasions when a woman
is less out of humor with you than with herself. She feels with
vexation that her weakness is ready to betray her at any moment. She
punishes you for it, and she punishes herself by being unkind to you.
But you may be sure that one day of such caprice advances the progress
of a lover more than a year of care and assiduity. A woman soon begins
to regret her unkindness; she deems herself unjust; she desires to
repair her fault, and she becomes benevolent.

What surprises me the most is the marked passage in your letter which
states that since the Countess has appeared to love you, her
character has totally changed. I have no particular information on
that point. All I know is, that she made her debut in society as a
lady of elegance, and her debut was all the more marked because,
during the life of her husband, her conduct was entirely the contrary.
Do you not remember when you first made her acquaintance, that she was
lively even to giddiness, heedless, bold, even coquettish, and