rtlessly.

"Instinct will guide you," replied her mother. "At this moment Paul
desires you more than he loves you; for love born of desires is a hope;
the love that succeeds their satisfaction is the reality. There, my
dear, is the question; there lies your power. What woman is not loved
before marriage? Be so on the morrow and you shall remain so always.
Paul is a weak man who is easily trained to habit. If he yields to you
once he will yield always. A woman ardently desired can ask all things;
do not commit the folly of many women who do not see the importance of
the first hours of their sway,--that of wasting your power on trifles,
on silly things with no result. Use the empire your husband's first
emotions give you to accustom him to obedience. And when you make him
yield, choose that it be on some unreasonable point, so as to test the
measure of your power by the measure of his concession. What victory
would there be in making him agree to a reasonable thing? Would that
be obeying you? We must always, as the Castilian proverb says, take
the bull by the horns; when a bull has once seen the inutility of his
defence and of his strength he is beaten. When your husband does a
foolish thing for you, you can govern him."

"Why so?"

"Because, my child, marriage lasts a lifetime, and a husband is not a
man like other men. Therefore, never commit the folly of giving yourself
into his power in everything. Keep up a constant reserve in your speech
and in your actions. You may even be cold to him without danger, for you
can modify coldness at will. Besides, nothing is more easy to maintain
than our dignity. The words, 'It is not becoming in your wife to do thus
and so,' is a great talisman. The life of a woman lies in the words, 'I
will not.' They are the final argument. Feminine power is in them,
and therefore they should only be used on real occasions. But they
constitute a means of governing far beyond that of argument or
discussion. I, my dear child, reigned over your father by his faith in
me. If your husband believes in you, you can do all things with him. To
inspire that belief you must make him think that you understand him. Do
not suppose that that is an easy thing to do. A woman can always make a
man think that he is loved, but to make him admit that he is understood
is far more difficult. I am bound to tell you all now, my child, for
to-morrow life with its complications, life with two wills which
_must_ be made