The children became an additional cause of dispute, and the larger they grew, the more they became an instrument of struggle.
"One would have said that we used them as weapons with which to combat each other.

Each of us had his favorite.

I made use of little Basile (the eldest), she of Lise.

Further, when the children reached an age where their characters began to be defined, they became allies, which we drew each in his or her own direction.

They suffered horribly from this, the poor things, but we, in our perpetual hubbub, were not clear-headed enough to think of them.