Chapter I: Introduction: To Letters

I--A Hazardous Undertaking II--Why Love Is Dangerous III--Why Love Grows Cold IV--The Spice of Love V--Love and Temper VI--Certain Maxims Concerning Love VII--Women Expect a Quid Pro Quo from Men VIII--The Necessity for Love and Its Primitive Cause IX--Love Is a Natural Inclination X--The Sensation of Love Forms a Large Part of a Woman's Nature XI--The Distinction Between Love and Friendship XII--A Man in Love Is an Amusing Spectacle XIII--Vanity Is a Fertile Soil for Love XIV--Worth and Merit Are Not Considered in Love XV--The Hidden Motives of Love XVI--How to Be Victorious in Love XVII--Women Understand the Difference Between Real Love and Flirtation XVIII--When a Woman Is Loved She Need Not Be Told of It XIX--Why a Lover's Vows Are Untrustworthy XX--The Half-way House to Love XXI--The Comedy of Contrariness XXII--Vanity and Self-Esteem Obstacles to Love XXIII--Two Irreconcilable Passions in Woman XXIV--An Abuse of Credulity Is Intolerable XXV--Why Virtue Is So Often Overcome XXVI--Love Demands Freedom of Action XXVII--The Heart Needs Constant Employment XXVIII--Mere Beauty Is Often of Trifling Importance XXIX--The Misfortune of Too Sudden an Avowal XXX--When Resistance is Only a Pretence XXXI--The Opinion and Advice of Monsieur de la Sablière XXXII--The Advantages of a Knowledge of the Heart XXXIII--A Heart Once Wounded No Longer Plays with Love XXXIV--Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder XXXV--The Heart Should Be Played Upon Like the Keys of a Piano XXXVI--Mistaken Impressions Common to All Women XXXVII--The Allurements of Stage Women XXXVIII--Varieties of Resistance Are Essential XXXIX--The True Value of Compliments Among Women XL--Oratory and Fine Phrases Do Not Breed Love XLI--Discretion Is Sometimes the Better Part of Valor XLII--Surface Indications in Women Are Not Always Guides XLIII--Women Demand Respect XLIV--Why Love Grows Weak--Marshal de Saint-Evremond's Opinion XLV--What Favors Men Consider Faults XLVI--Why Inconstancy Is Not Injustice XLVII--Cause of Quarrels Among Rivals XLVIII--Friendship Must Be Firm XLIX--Constancy Is a Virtue Among Narrow Minded L--Some Women Are Very Cunning LI--The Parts Men and Women Play LII--Love Is a Traitor with Sharp Claws LIII--Old Age Not a Preventive Against Attack LIV--A Shrewd But Not an Unusual Scheme LV--A Happy Ending

* * * * *

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LORD SAINT-EVREMOND AND NINON DE L'ENCLOS

I--Lovers and Gamblers Have Something in Common II--It Is Sweet to Remember Those We Have Loved III--Wrinkles Are a Mark of Wisdom IV--Near Hopes Are Worth as Much as Those Far Off V--On the Death of De Charleval VI--The Weariness of Monotony VII--After the Death of La Duchesse de Mazarin VIII--Love Banishes Old Age IX--Stomachs Demand More Attention Than Minds X--Why Does Love Diminish After Marriage? XI--Few People Resist Age XII--Age Has Some Consolations XIII--Some Good Taste Still Exists in France XIV--Superiority of the Pleasures of the Stomach XV--Let the Heart Speak Its Own Language XVI--The Memory of Youth XVII--I Should Have Hanged Myself XVIII--Life Is Joyous When It Is Without Sorrow Letter to the Modern Leontium

NINON DE L'ENCLOS

LIFE AND LETTERS