Page 593 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

him money. She does not believe, and Paz feigns an intrigue
with a circus-rider in order to lull all suspicions. She says to
her adored spouse, ‘Get rid of this extravagant friend! Away
with him! He is a profligate, a gambler! A drunkard!’ Paz fi-
nally departs, and when he has gone, the lady finds out the
poor Pole’s worth. The story does not end satisfactorily. Bal-
zac was too great a master of his art for that. In real life the
curtain never falls on a comfortably-finished drama. The
play goes on eternally.
I have been thinking of the story all evening. A man who
loves his friend’s wife, and devotes his energies to increase
her happiness by concealing from her her husband’s follies!
Surely none but Balzac would have hit upon such a notion.
‘A man who loves his friend’s wife.’—Asmodeus, I write no
more! I have ceased to converse with thee for so long that I
blush to confess all that I have in my heart.—I will not con-
fess it, so that shall suffice.

For the Term of His Natural Life