The magistrate had begun his sentence in the past; the husband finished it in the present, with an unmistakable allusion to himself. He added sententiously between two mouthfuls: “Other people’s appetites easily appear excessive when one doesn’t share them.” He drank a long draught of wine, then: “And this explains, my dear friend, how a husband loses the direction of his household.” I understood, indeed--it was clear under the apparent incoherence of his talk--his desire to make the responsibility of his own shortcomings fall upon his wife’s virtue. Creatures as disjointed as this puppet, I said to myself, need every scrap of their egoism to bind together the disconnected elements of which they are formed. A moment’s self-forgetfulness, and they would fall to pieces. He was silent. I felt I must pour a few reflections over him, as one pours oil on an engine that has accomplished a bout of work; and to set him going again I remarked: “Fortunately Pauline is intelligent.” He prolonged his “ye-e-s” till it turned into a query; then: “But still there are things she doesn’t understand. However intelligent a woman may be, you know.... Still, I must admit that in the circumstances I didn’t manage very cleverly. I began telling her about a little affair of mine at a time when I thought--when I was absolutely convinced--that it wouldn’t go any further. It did go further ... and Pauline’s suspicions too. It was a mistake to put her on the ‘_qui vive_,’ as people say. I have been obliged to hide things from her--to tell lies.... That’s what comes of not holding one’s tongue to begin with. It’s not my fault. I’m naturally confiding.... But Pauline’s jealousy is alarming. You can’t imagine how careful I have had to be.” “Was it long ago?” I asked. “Oh, it’s been going on for about five years now; and I flatter myself I had completely reassured her. But now the whole thing has to begin all over again. What do you think! When I got back home the day before yesterday.... Suppose we order another bottle of Pommard, eh?” “Not for me, please.”