If Judith and I had claims one on the other, the
entire charm of our relationship would be broken.
I resolved to take Carlotta to the park, in order to improve her
mind. She would see how well-bred Englishwomen comport
themselves externally. It would be a lesson in decorum.
I do not despise convention. Indeed, I follow it up to the point
when it puts on the airs of revealed religion. My neighbours and
I decide on a certain code of manners which will enable us to
meet without mutual offence. I agree to put my handkerchief up
to my nose when I sneeze in his presence, and he contracts not to
wipe muddy boots on my sofa. I undertake not to shock his wife
by parading my hideous immorality before her eyes, and he binds
himself not to aggravate my celibacy by beating her or kissing
her when I am paying a call. I agree, by wearing an arbitrarily
fixed costume when I dine with him, to brand myself with the
stamp of a certain class of society, so that his guests shall
receive me without question, and he in return gives me a
well-ordered dinner served with the minimum amount of inconvenience
to myself that his circumstances allow.
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