Professor Wellmann, your quiet, correct husband, was as great a torment
to you as you were to him. Without intending it, you made his life a
misery. The dreadful scenes which were brought about by your violent and
sensual temperament so changed his disposition that he became brutal;
while to you they became a kind of second nature, a necessity, like food
or sleep.
Magna, you will think me brutal, too, because I now tell you in black
and white what formerly I lacked the courage to say. Believe me, it was
often on the tip of my tongue to exclaim: "Better have a lover than
torment this poor man whose temperament is so different to your own."
I will not say you did not care for your husband. You learnt to see his
good qualities; but there was no true union between you. You hated his
work. Not like a woman who is jealous of the time spent away from her;
but because you believed such arduous brain work made him less ardent as
a lover. Although you did not really care for him, you would have
sacrificed all his fame and reputation for an hour of unreasoning
passion.
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