eciprocal love. However, the lady refused to abandon herself
entirely. The husband confessed everything to his wife, even to the
smallest details, and the lady did the same. Instead of becoming
jealous, the wife had the good sense and the courage to treat the two
lovers not only with indulgence, but a true and profound affection.
The loyalty of each of the parties interested greatly facilitated the
gradual _denouement_ of a difficult situation, without the family
affections suffering. But the _denouement_ would have been quite as
peaceful if the lady had yielded to sexual connection with the
husband. In fact, the wife herself considered this question very
seriously and calmly, in case the fire could not be otherwise
extinguished.

I ask in all sincerity, if such mild and humane treatment of an
unfortunate love affair, in which the three interested parties each
strove to avoid all scandal and everything which could damage their
mutual reputation, I ask if this good and loyal treatment is not, from
the moral standpoint, far superior to scenes of jealousy, duels,
divorces and all their consequences, things which are all sanctioned
and even sanctified by custom?

I also know many cases where the husbands of women who have fallen in
love with other men have conducted themselves in an equally noble and
reasonable manner, even when their wives had been completely
unfaithful, and the results have always been good. It is needless to
say that I do not wish to maintain that a husband should tolerate
indefinitely the bad conduct of his wife, nor a woman that of her
husband; but this is another thing.

=Sexual Braggardism.=--Let us pass on to another irradiation of the
male sexual appetite--sexual braggardism. This arises from
self-exaltation evolved from the sexual power of man. Like jealousy,
this sentiment is no doubt inherited from our animal ancestors, and it
finds its analogy, or rather its caricature, in the cock, the peacock,
the turkey, and in general among the richly adorned males of
polygamous species. Although on the whole more innocent, the results
of this atavistic instinct are no more elevated than those of
jealousy. The sentiment of sexual power induces men, especially those
of lower mental caliber, to boast of their sexual conquests and
exaggerate them. It is needless to say that success does not go to the
unskillful boaster, but to the one who relates his audacious exploits
in a casual way. The Don Juan experie