"No, say what you will, we live in such an abyss of falsehood, that,
unless some event strikes us a blow on the head, as in my case, we
cannot awaken. What confusion! Out of the thousands of men who marry,
not only among us, but also among the people, scarcely will you find
a single one who has not previously married at least ten times. (It is
true that there now exist, at least so I have heard, pure young people
who feel and know that this is not a joke, but a serious matter. May God
come to their aid! But in my time there was not to be found one such in
a thousand.)

"And all know it, and pretend not to know it. In all the novels are
described down to the smallest details the feelings of the characters,
the lakes and brambles around which they walk; but, when it comes to
describing their GREAT love, not a word is breathed of what HE, the
interesting character, has previously done, not a word about
his frequenting of disreputable houses, or his association with
nursery-maids, cooks, and the wives of others.

"And if anything is said of these things, such IMPROPER novels are not
allowed in the hands of young girls. All men have the air of believing,
in presence of maidens, that these corrupt pleasures, in which EVERYBODY
takes part, do not exist, or exist only to a very small extent. They
pretend it so carefully that they succeed in convincing themselves of
it. As for the poor young girls, they believe it quite seriously, just
as my poor wife believed it.

"I remember that, being already engaged, I showed her my 'memoirs,' from
which she could learn more or less of my past, and especially my last
liaison which she might perhaps have discovered through the gossip of
some third party. It was for this last reason, for that matter, that I