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Les liaisons dangereuses, volume 1 (of 2) / or, Letters collected in a private society and published for the instruction of others cover

Les liaisons dangereuses, volume 1 (of 2) / or, Letters collected in a private society and published for the instruction of others

Chapter 95: LETTER THE EIGHTY-SIXTH THE MARÉCHALE DE *** TO THE MARQUISE DE MERTEUIL
By Choderlos de Laclos
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About This Book

The narrative is assembled from letters exchanged among members of an elite social circle, each voice disclosing private schemes and motives. Two seasoned manipulators orchestrate seductions and betrayals that draw in a devout woman, an inexperienced young woman, and a hopeful young musician, treating intimacy as a tool of influence. The correspondence lays bare hypocrisy, sexual politics, and the fragile value of reputation while shifting perspective between conspirators and victims. As secrets accumulate, the letters trace the widening harm of calculated deceit and leave readers with unresolved questions about responsibility and moral consequence.

LETTER THE EIGHTY-SIXTH
THE MARÉCHALE DE *** TO THE MARQUISE DE MERTEUIL

(A note enclosed in the preceding one)

Ah, Heavens! what do I hear, my dear Madame? Is it possible that that little Prévan should commit such abominations? And to you above all! What is one not exposed to! One is no longer safe in one’s own house! Truly such events console one for being old. But that for which I shall never console myself is that I have been partly the cause of your receiving such a monster at your house. I promise you that, if what I am told is true, he shall never more set foot within my doors; that is the course which all nice persons will adopt towards him, if they do their duty.

I am told that you have been quite ill, and I am anxious about your health. Give me, I pray you, your precious news, or send by one of your women, if you cannot come yourself. I only ask a word to reassure me. I should have hastened to you this morning, had it not been for my baths, which my doctor will not allow me to interrupt; and I must go to Versailles this afternoon, always on my nephew’s business.

Adieu, dear Madame; count upon my sincere friendship for life.

Paris, September 25th, 17**.