And now the last act of the comedy is in preparation.

The lover who, from the day when the feeblest of all first symptoms shows itself in your wife until the moment when the marital revolution takes place, has jumped upon the stage, either as a material creature or as a being of the imagination—­the LOVER, summoned by a sign from her, now declares:  “Here I am!”

MEDITATION XIX.

OF THE LOVER.

We offer the following maxims for your consideration: 

We should despair of the human race if these maxims had been made before 1830; but they set forth in so clear a manner the agreements and difficulties which distinguish you, your wife and a lover; they so brilliantly describe what your policy should be, and demonstrate to you so accurately the strength of the enemy, that the teacher has put his amour-propre aside, and if by chance you find here a single new thought, send it to the devil, who suggested this work.

LXV. 
To speak of love is to make love.

LXVI. 
In a lover the coarsest desire always shows itself as a burst of
honest admiration.

LXVII. 
A lover has all the good points and all the bad points which are
lacking in a husband.

LXVIII. 
A lover not only gives life to everything, he makes one forget life;
the husband does not give life to anything.

LXIX.  All the affected airs of sensibility which a woman puts on invariably deceive a lover; and on occasions when a husband shrugs his shoulders, a lover is in ecstasies.

LXX. 
A lover betrays by his manner alone the degree of intimacy in which he
stands to a married woman.

LXXI.  A woman does not always know why she is in love.  It is rarely that a man falls in love without some selfish purpose.  A husband should discover this secret motive of egotism, for it will be to him the lever of Archimedes.

LXXII. 
A clever husband never betrays his supposition that his wife has a
lover.

LXXIII.  The lover submits to all the caprices of a woman; and as a man is never vile while he lies in the arms of his mistress, he will take the means to please her that a husband would recoil from.

LXXIV. 
A lover teaches a wife all that her husband has concealed from her.

LXXV.  All the sensations which a woman yields to her lover, she gives in exchange; they return to her always intensified; they are as rich in what they give as in what they receive.  This is the kind of commerce in which almost all husbands end by being bankrupt.

LXXVI.  A lover speaks of nothing to a woman but that which exalts her; while a husband, although he may be a loving one, can never refrain from giving advice which always has the appearance of reprimand.

LXXVII. 
A lover always starts from his mistress to himself; with a husband the
contrary is the case.

LXXVIII. 

A lover always has a desire to appear amiable.  There is in this sentiment an element of exaggeration which leads to ridicule; study how to take advantage of this.