This thought is striking in an episode in the life of Don Juan, which was known neither to Moliere nor to Mozart, but which is revealed in an English legend, a knowledge of which I owe to my friend James Russell Lowell of London.

One learns from it that the great seducer lost his time with three women.

One was a bourgeoise: she was in love with her husband; the other was a nun: she would not consent to violate her vows; the third, who had for a long time led a life of debauchery, had become ugly, and was a servant in a den.

After what she had done, after what she had seen, love signified nothing to her.

These three women behaved alike for very different reasons.