ABSTRACT
He who with open force and by desperate deeds obtains the object of his guilty wishes does not harm his victim to the same degree as he, who, by consummate art and flattery, seduces a reluctant mind, and corrupts the purity of the soul. Fiormonda’s mind was perverted, and she resigned herself to her love more than to her grief. Yet the first time she had an opportunity of speaking to her lover alone, she reproached him with bitterness for his conduct. ‘My dear friend,’ said Condulmar, ‘how it grieves me to hear these complaints! After all, c’est mieux d’être l’objet du caprice d’une femme que de sa passion, et le pire de tout c’est d’être l’objet de son amour.’13 /
