Finding that I was observed, I told the good women, the two Mrs. ----s,
simply that I was with child: and let them stare! and ----, and ----, nay,
all the world, may know it for aught I care!--Yet I wish to avoid ----'s
coarse jokes.
Considering the care and anxiety a woman must have about a child before it
comes into the world, it seems to me, by a _natural right_, to belong to
her. When men get immersed in the world, they seem to lose all sensations,
excepting those necessary to continue or produce life!--Are these the
privileges of reason? Amongst the feathered race, whilst the hen keeps
the young warm, her mate stays by to cheer her; but it is sufficient for
man to condescend to get a child, in order to claim it.--A man is a
tyrant!
You may now tell me, that, if it were not for me, you would be laughing
away with some honest fellows in London. The casual exercise of social
sympathy would not be sufficient for me--I should not think such an
heartless life worth preserving.--It is necessary to be in good-humour
with you, to be pleased with the world.
_Thursday Morning [Paris, Jan. 2, 1794]._
I was very low-spirited last night, ready to quarrel with your cheerful
temper, which makes absence easy to you.--And, why should I mince the
matter? I was offended at your not even mentioning it--I do not want to be
loved like a goddess but I wish to be necessary to you. God bless you![4]