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

Chapter 76: LETTER THE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SECOND THE CHEVALIER DANCENY TO THE VICOMTE DE VALMONT

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About This Book

A sustained correspondence among members of aristocratic society chronicles calculated schemes of seduction, rivalry, and revenge. Two former intimates manipulate others to assert power, exploiting youthful innocence and social expectations while a devoted suitor and a devout woman suffer from deceit. The epistolary structure exposes competing perspectives and private rationalizations, revealing hypocrisy, shifting alliances, and the corrosive effects of vanity and desire. As letters multiply, reputations are weaponized, emotional wreckage accumulates, and moral consequences lead to tragic outcomes, offering a portrait of interpersonal power struggles and the performative nature of social life.

LETTER THE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SECOND
THE CHEVALIER DANCENY TO THE VICOMTE DE VALMONT

I am acquainted, Monsieur, with your behaviour to me. I know also that, not content with having unworthily tricked me, you have not feared to vaunt and applaud yourself for it. I have seen the proof of your treachery written in your own hand. I confess that my heart was sick, and that I felt a certain shame at having assisted somewhat myself at the odious abuse you have made of my blind confidence: I do not, however, envy you this shameful advantage; I am only curious to learn whether you will preserve them all alike over me. I shall know this if, as I hope, you will be ready to meet me to-morrow, between eight and nine o’clock in the morning, at the entrance to the Bois de Vincennes by the village of Saint-Mandé. I will be careful to have there all that is necessary for the explanations which I still have to obtain from you.

The Chevalier Danceny.

Paris, 6th December, 17**, in the evening.