"You are doubtless astonished at the strange conclusion to which my
serious reasoning has led me. You will be still more astonished when
you shall have heard the logic I employ to prove that I am right:
listen to the end. I know the justice of your mind, and I am not
lacking in it, however frivolous I may appear to be, and you will
finish by being of my opinion.

"Do you believe that the outward appearance of virtue guarantees the
heart against the assaults of love? A poor resource. When a woman
descends to a weakness, is not her humiliation proportionately as
great as the esteem she hoped to secure? The brighter her virtue, the
easier mark for malice.

"What is the world's idea of a virtuous woman? Are not men so unjust
as to believe that the wisest woman is she who best conceals her
weakness; or who, by a forced retreat puts herself beyond the
possibility of having any? Rather than accord us a single perfection,
they carry wickedness to the point of attributing to us a perpetual
state of violence, every time we undertake to resist their advances.
One of our friends said: 'There is not an honest woman who is not
tired of being so.' And what recompense do they offer us for the cruel
torments to which they have condemned us? Do they raise up an altar to
our heroism? No! The most honest woman, they say, is she who is not
talked about, that is to say, a perfect indifference on the part of a
woman, a general oblivion is the price of our virtue. Must women not
have much of it to preserve it at such a price? Who would not be
tempted to abandon it? But there are grave matters which can not be
overlooked.

"Dishonor closely follows upon weakness. Old age is dreadful in