contract those new relations which are always dangerous. As for
George, he helped in this worthy work, keeping the woman in
terror of some disease. He told her that almost all men were
infected, for he hoped by this means to keep her from deceiving
him.

I am aware that this may seem a dreadful story. As I do not want
anyone to think too ill of George Dupont, I ought, perhaps, to
point out that people feel differently about these matters in
France. In judging the unfortunate young man, we must judge him
by the customs of his own country, and not by ours. In France,
they are accustomed to what is called the MARIAGE DE CONVENANCE.
The young girl is not permitted to go about and make her own
friends and decide which one of them she prefers for her husband;
on the contrary, she is strictly guarded, her training often is
of a religious nature, and her marriage is a matter of business,
to be considered and decided by her parents and those of the
young man. Now, whatever we may think right, it is humanly
certain that where marriages are made in that way, the need of
men and women for sympathy and for passionate interest will often
lead to the forming of irregular relationships after marriage.
It is not possible to present statistics as to the number of such
irregular relationships in Parisian society; but in the books
which he read and in the plays which he saw, George found
everything to encourage him to think that it was a romantic and
delightful thing to keep up a secret intrigue with the wife of
his best friend.

It should also, perhaps, be pointed out that we are here telling
the truth, and the whole truth, about George Dupont; and that it