THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MARRIAGE

SECOND PART

BY

HONORE DE BALZAC



MEANS OF DEFENCE, INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR.

"To be or not to be,
That is the question."
--Shakspeare, _Hamlet_.



MEDITATION X.

A TREATISE ON MARITAL POLICY.

When a man reaches the position in which the first part of this book
sets him, we suppose that the idea of his wife being possessed by
another makes his heart beat, and rekindles his passion, either by an
appeal to his _amour propre_, his egotism, or his self-interest, for
unless he is still on his wife's side, he must be one of the lowest of
men and deserves his fate.

In this trying moment it is very difficult for a husband to avoid