Ferdinand
But how came it about that Gertrude has ended by loving me so
sincerely? For her passion may be judged by its effects. I call it a
passion, but with her it is first love, sole and undivided love, which
dominates her whole life, and seems to consume her. When she found
that I was a ruined man, towards the close of the year 1816, and
knowing that I was like you, a poet, fond of luxury and art, of a soft
and happy life, in short, a mere spoilt child, she formed a plan at
once base and sublime, such a plan as disappointed passion suggests to
women who, for the sake of their love, do all that despots do for the
sake of their power; for them, the supreme law is that of their love--

Ramel
The facts, my dear fellow, give me the facts! You are making your
defence, recollect, and I am prosecuting attorney.

Ferdinand
While I was settling my mother in Brittany, Gertrude met General de
Grandchamp, who was seeking a governess for his daughter. She saw
nothing in this battered warrior, then fifty-eight years old, but a
money-box. She expected that she would soon be left a widow, wealthy
and in circumstances to claim her lover and her slave. She said to
herself that her marriage would be merely a bad dream, followed
quickly by a happy awakening. You see the dream has lasted twelve
years! But you know how women reason.

Ramel
They have a special jurisprudence of their own.