“If your wife should think as you do!” “Oh! so far as that is concerned, I am not alarmed; my wife is virtue personified, and she does no more than her duty; for a woman--that’s a very different matter.” “As to the consequences, yes; but morally, and even according to the law of nature, I consider that the fault is absolutely identical.” “You are joking! At all events, aren’t the consequences everything? Is the absurdity of it the same? Will any one ever laugh at a wife whose husband has mistresses? No, nothing is ever said then, because it is considered a very common occurrence; but if a wife makes her husband a cuckold----” “That is a very common occurrence too.” “For all that, people laugh at the poor husband and point their fingers at him!--Besides, what harm can come of the husband’s infidelity? None at all. The fair ones who have yielded to him won’t go about boasting of it! With a woman it is just the opposite; her lovers always ruin her reputation, either by their words, or by their actions, which never escape the eyes of curiosity and calumny. In fact, a woman who finds her husband in another woman’s arms can only complain and weep; while a man who surprises his wife in _flagrante delicto_ has a right to punish the culprit; so you see, my dear fellow, that the offence is not the same, as the punishment is different.” “I see that it was we men who made the laws, and that we treated ourselves very well.” “Are you going to preach to me too? Really, Dufresne, you are almost as savagely virtuous as my wife.” “No, my dear fellow, you don’t know me yet. But before assisting you, I wanted to find out whether you had fully weighed the consequences of this intrigue.” “I have weighed and calculated everything. I love Madame de Géran, and I wish to be loved in return. I feel that there is no sacrifice of which I am not capable to attain my object. Do you understand?” “Oh! very well. Since your mind is made up, I will second you; but of course you won’t reproach me for leading you on.” “No, no! On the contrary, I beg you to assist me, and to help me to conceal this intrigue from my wife’s eyes.” “Don’t be alarmed--leave all that to me. I will answer for all. When will you call on Madame de Géran?” “This evening. They play cards there, of course?” “Yes, and for rather high stakes.” “The devil! The fact is that I haven’t any money. That party drained me dry.” “It is very easy to obtain some. Consols are at a very high premium. Sell. They cannot fail to drop before long; then, as we shall have speculated in something else, and you will probably be in funds, you can buy in again. You see, it is a good thing to do from a business standpoint.” “True, you are right. But the consols are in my wife’s name.” “Can’t you get her to sign by telling her that you are engaged in a magnificent operation?” “Oh, yes! she will sign, I am sure; she’ll sign whatever I want her to.”