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

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

Chapter 78: LETTER THE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOURTH MADAME DE ROSEMONDE TO M. BERTRAND
By Choderlos de Laclos
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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-FOURTH
MADAME DE ROSEMONDE TO M. BERTRAND

I have this moment received your letter, my dear Bertrand, and learn from it the fearful event of which my nephew has been the unhappy victim. Yes, I shall doubtless have orders to give you, and it is only on account of them that I can occupy myself with anything else than my mortal affliction.

The letter of M. Danceny, which you have sent me, is a very convincing proof that it was he who provoked the duel, and it is my intention that you should immediately lodge a complaint, and in my name. My nephew may have satisfied his natural generosity in pardoning his enemy and murderer; but it is my duty to avenge, at the same time, his death, humanity and religion. One cannot be too eager to invoke the severity of the law against this remnant of barbarism, and I do not believe that this is a case in which we are required to pardon injuries. I expect you, then, to pursue this matter with all the zeal and activity of which I know you to be capable, and which you owe to my nephew’s memory.

You will be sure, before all, to see M. le Président de *** on my behalf, and confer with him on the subject. I have not written to him, eager as I am to be left quite alone with my sorrow. You will convey him my excuses, and communicate this letter to him.

Adieu, my dear Bertrand; I praise and thank you for your kind sentiments, and am, for life, entirely yours.

At the Château de ..., 8th December, 17**.