How happened it that from the earliest days of his marriage his wife so fascinated him?
Why did he suffer without resistance?
How was it that he dared not resist?
Why did he let the years go by and still hope on?
By what means did this young and pretty and clever woman hold him in bondage?
The answer to all these questions would require a long history, which would injure our present tale.

Let us only remark here that the constant toil and grief of the count had unfortunately contributed not a little to deprive him of personal advantages very necessary to a man who attempts to struggle against dangerous comparisons.

In fact, the most cruel of the count's secret sorrows was that of causing repugnance to his wife by a malady of the skin resulting solely from excessive labor.
Kind, and always considerate of the countess, he allowed her to be mistress of herself and her home.

She received all Paris; she went into the country; she returned from it precisely as though she were still a widow.

He took care of her fortune and supplied her luxury as a steward might have done.