ppeal to his _amour propre_, his egotism, or his self-interest, for
unless he is still on his wife's side, he must be one of the lowest of
men and deserves his fate.

In this trying moment it is very difficult for a husband to avoid making
mistakes; for, with regard to most men, the art of ruling a wife is
even less known than that of judiciously choosing one. However, marital
policy consists chiefly in the practical application of three principles
which should be the soul of your conduct. The first is never to believe
what a woman says; the second, always to look for the spirit without
dwelling too much upon the letter of her actions; and the third, not to
forget that a woman is never so garrulous as when she holds her tongue,
and is never working with more energy than when she keeps quiet.

From the moment that your suspicions are aroused, you ought to be like a
man mounted on a tricky horse, who always watches the ears of the beast,
in fear of being thrown from the saddle.

But art consists not so much in the knowledge of principles, as in the
manner of applying them; to reveal them to ignorant people is to put
a razor in the hand of a monkey. Moreover, the first and most vital of
your duties consists in perpetual dissimulation, an accomplishment in
which most husbands are sadly lacking. In detecting the symptoms of
minotaurism a little too plainly marked in the conduct of their wives,
most men at once indulge in the most insulting suspicions. Their
minds contract a tinge of bitterness which manifests itself in their
conversation, and in their manners; and the alarm which fills their
heart, like the gas flame in a glass globe, lights up their countenances
so plainly, that it accounts for their conduct.

Now a woman, who has twelve hours more than you have each day to reflect
and to study you, reads the suspicion written upon your face at the very
moment that it arises. She will never forget this gratuitous insult.
Nothing can ever remedy that. All is now said and done, and the
very next day, if she has opportunity, she will join the ranks of
inconsistent women.

You ought then to begin under these circumstances to affect towards your
wife the same boundless confidence that you have hitherto had in her. If
you begin to lull her anxieties by honeyed words, you are lost, she will
not believe you; for she has her policy as you have yours. Now there is
as much need for tact as for kindliness in your behavior, in order