That is our advice, for the Countess and I think precisely alike on the subject.  Be more equitable, Marquis; complain of her rather than criticise her.  If her character were more decided, perhaps you would be better satisfied with her; but, even in that case would you be satisfied very long?  I doubt it.

Adieu.  We count on seeing you this evening at Madame de La Fayette’s, and that you will prove more reasonable.  The Abbe Gedoyn will be presented me.  The assembly will be brilliant, but you will doubtless be bored, for you will not see the only object that can attract you, and you will say of my apartment, what Malherbe so well says of the garden of the Louvre: 

“Mais quoi que vous ayez, vous n’avez point Caliste, Et moi je ne vois rien, quand je ne la vois pas.”

(Whatever you may have Caliste you have not got,
And I, I can see nothing when I see her not.)

XLIV

Why Love Grows Weak—­Marshal de Saint-Evremond’s Opinion

A calm has succeeded the storm, Marquis, and I see by your letter that you are more satisfied with the Countess and with yourself.  How powerful logic is coming from the mouth of a woman we adore!  You see how the conduct of our friend has produced an opposite effect from that of the Marquise; the severity of the former increasing your esteem and love for her and the kindness of the Marquise making an unfaithful lover out of the Chevalier.  So it generally happens among men, ingratitude is commonly the price of benefits.  This misfortune, however, is not always beyond the reach of remedies, and in this connection I wish to give you the contents of a letter I received from Monsieur de Saint-Evremond a few days ago.  You are not ignorant of the intimate relations that have always existed between us.

The young Count de ——­ had just espoused Mademoiselle ——­, of whom he was passionately amorous.  He complained one day to me that hymen and the possession of the beloved object weakened every day, and often destroyed the most tender love.  We discussed the subject for a long time, and as I happened to write to Saint-Evremond that day, I submitted the question to him.  This is his reply: 

SAINT-EVREMOND TO MADEMOISELLE DE L’ENCLOS.

My opinion is exactly in line with yours, Mademoiselle; it is not always, as some think, hymen or the possession of the loved object which, of itself, destroys love, the true source of the dissatisfaction that follows love is in the unintelligent manner of economizing the sentiments, a possession too easy, complete, and prolonged.