I sought her intercourse without illicit views; I delighted in the effusions of her candour and the flashes of her intelligence; I conformed, by a kind of instinctive hypocrisy, to her views; I spoke and felt from the influence of immediate and momentary conviction.

She imagined she had found in me a friend worthy to partake in all her sympathies and forward all her wishes.

We were mutually deceived.

She was the victim of self-delusion; but I must charge myself with practising deceit both upon myself and her.
"I reflect with astonishment and horror on the steps which led to her degradation and to my calamity.

In the high career of passion all consequences were overlooked.