Your wife is evidently afraid of the future—thinks it impossible that she can get from you the treatment or the consideration she ought to have, and must have in order to be happy. She will not say anything definite; but I am sure of this. She will not tell you her troubles—you should know them without being told. Not to know them shows the want of consideration.
The higher you go in society and in educated circles, the more the woman differs from the man. She cannot be judged or understood as a man. She becomes a distinct being with a distinct character, and very, very delicate feelings.
Well, this is enough to give you an idea of how I see the matter. Can you honestly promise to treat your wife in a completely new way,—with such delicacy as you never did before, and always? If you can, I think we can manage to do something. There is also something important to consider in regard to family matters. Can you not make this matter smooth also? Please answer before three o’clock. Do not come to the house until late this evening, or to-morrow. In haste,
Affectionately, your friend,
Y. Koizumi.
TO——
Dear Friend,—After you bid us good-bye, I began to think about things, and resolved to write you a little letter about my conclusions. Of course, because I am a foreigner, I cannot pretend to make absolutely correct conclusions; but I should like to be of use to you as a friend, and therefore believe that I cannot do any harm by presenting both sides of the question, as they appear to me.
It seems that there is one view of the matter which might not have been fully thought over yet. The woman’s side, I mean. It is true she has not stated it; but I imagine it might be this:—
A woman of cultivation, although seeming very strong, may be very sensitive and delicate—and may suffer more than a strong man can imagine possible, by reason of very little matters. When about to become a mother, her capacity for suffering greatly increases, and after childbirth it remains intense. These are natural conditions; but after the loss of a child, the condition is a very serious one, especially for a lady who has been well educated. I know this chiefly by some knowledge of medical physiology.—Now, what I mean is this: Anything that a wife does during or after pregnancy should, I believe, be not only forgiven, but lovingly forgiven,—because then, what she suffers no man can really understand. And the more educated she is, the more refined she is, the more she suffers.