It will be seen from these extracts that illicit unions may under certain favourable circumstances (especially that of intellectual or artistic companionship) come to be conventionally protected, as marriage itself is, by the use of the purest possible language. There have been cases in London more or less resembling that of Victor Hugo, which it would be considered an offence against good taste to speak about in the plain terms of old-fashioned morality.
André Theuriet on Parisian and Provincial Opinion.
M. André Theuriet, in his excellent novel Amour d’Automne, says that adulterous liaisons are conventionally tolerated in Paris, but judged very severely by the stricter provincial opinion. Those who feel disposed to tolerate them, speak of them in words so carefully selected that they may be used before virgins and children. There was “an affectionate friendship” between the gentleman and lady, or “an old attachment.” Fidelity in these cases gives them an air of positive virtue:—
“Le temps, vieillard divin, honore et blanchit tout!”
Toleration in Italy and Germany.
Lewes and Liszt.
Liszt and the Princess of Wittgenstein.
This kind of toleration is not by any means confined to London and Paris; it has long existed in Italy and Germany. Lewes might have counted upon it in Liszt, yet at Weimar he asked if he might present Miss Evans to the musician, not feeling sure “as their position was irregular.” Liszt himself was living at Weimar with the Princess of Wittgenstein, who had left her husband for his sake; and the duke had been so accommodating as to lend them the Altenburg residence, where they dispensed a graceful hospitality to many friends. The long series of Liszt’s successes with distinguished ladies did not exclude him from the world of London and Paris.
Great Capitals—their Opinion of each Other.
Divorce-Court Evidence.