There was a certain retired lawyer of Normandy. He lived in the little
town of B-----, where a regiment of the chasseurs of Cantal were
garrisoned. A fascinating officer of this regiment had fallen in love
with the wife of this pettifogger, and the regiment was leaving before
the two lovers had been able to enjoy the least privacy. It was the
fourth military man over whom the lawyer had triumphed. As he left the
dinner-table one evening, about six o’clock, the husband took a walk
on the terrace of his garden from which he could see the whole country
side. The officers arrived at this moment to take leave of him. Suddenly
the flame of a conflagration burst forth on the horizon. “Heavens! La
Daudiniere is on fire!” exclaimed the major. He was an old simple-minded
soldier, who had dined at home. Every one mounted horse. The young wife
smiled as she found herself alone, for her lover, hidden in the coppice,
had said to her, “It is a straw stack on fire!” The flank of the
husband was turned with all the more facility in that a fine courser was
provided for him by the captain, and with a delicacy very rare in the
cavalry, the lover actually sacrificed a few moments of his happiness
in order to catch up with the cavalcade, and return in company with the
husband.
Marriage is a veritable duel, in which persistent watchfulness is
required in order to triumph over an adversary; for, if you are unlucky
enough to turn your head, the sword of the celibate will pierce you
through and through. 5. OF THE MAID.
The prettiest waiting-maid I have ever seen is that of Madame V----y,
a lady who to-day plays at Paris a brilliant part among the most
fashionable women, and passes for a wife who keeps on excellent terms
with her husband. Mademoiselle Celestine is a person whose points of
beauty are so numerous that, in order to describe her, it would be
necessary to translate the thirty verses which we are told form an
inscription in the seraglio of the Grand Turk and contain each of them
an excellent description of one of the thirty beauties of women.
“You show a great deal of vanity in keeping near you such an
accomplished creature,” said a lady to the mistress of the house.
“Ah! my dear, some day perhaps you will find yourself jealous of me in
possessing Celestine.”
“She must be endowed with very rare qualities, I suppose? She perhaps
dresses you well?”
“Oh, no, very badly!”
“She sews well?”
“She never touches her needle.”
“She is faithful?”
“She is one of those whose fidelity costs more than the most cunning
dishonesty.”
“You astonish me, my dear; she is then your foster-sister?”
“Not at all; she is positively good for nothing, but she is more useful
to me than any other member of my household. If she remains with me ten
years, I have promised her twenty thousand francs. It will be money
well earned, and I shall not forget to give it!” said the young woman,
nodding her head with a meaning gesture.
At last the questioner of Madame V----y understood.
When a woman has no friend of her own sex intimate enough to assist
her in proving false to marital love, her maid is a last resource which
seldom fails in bringing about the desired result.
Oh! after ten years of marriage to find under his roof, and to see all
the time, a young girl of from sixteen to eighteen, fresh, dressed with
taste, the treasures of whose beauty seem to breathe defiance, whose
frank bearing is irresistibly attractive, whose downcast eyes seem to
fear you, whose timid glance tempts you, and for whom the conjugal bed
has no secrets, for she is at once a virgin and an experienced woman!
How can a man remain cold, like St. Anthony, before such powerful
sorcery, and have the courage to remain faithful to the good principles
represented by a scornful wife, whose face is always stern, whose
manners are always snappish, and who frequently refuses to be caressed?
What husband is stoical enough to resist such fires, such frosts? There,
where you see a new harvest of pleasure, the young innocent sees an
income, and your wife her liberty. It is a little family compact, which
is signed in the interest of good will.
In this case, your wife acts with regard to marriage as young
fashionables do with regard to their country. If they are drawn for the
army, they buy a man to carry the musket, to die in their place and to
spare them the hardships of military life.
In compromises of this sort there is not a single woman who does not
know how to put her husband in the wrong. I have noticed that, by a
supreme stroke of diplomacy, the majority of wives do not admit their
maids into the secret of the part which they give them to play. They
trust to nature, and assume an affected superiority over the lover and
his mistress.
These secret perfidies of women explain to a great degree the odd
features of married life which are to be observed in the world; and I
have heard women discuss, with profound sagacity, the dangers which are
inherent in this terrible method of attack, and it is necessary to
know thoroughly both the husband and the creature to whom he is to be
abandoned, in order to make successful use of her. Many a woman, in this
connection, has been the victim of her own calculations.
Moreover, the more impetuous and passionate a husband shows himself, the
less will a woman dare to employ this expedient; but a husband caught
in this snare will never have anything to say to his stern better-half,
when the maid, giving evidence of the fault she has committed, is sent
into the country with an infant and a dowry.