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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: that she was a pure and sainted woman; he resigned himself; he
talked of Platonic love, did this artillery officer!
When Mme de Langeais had played with religion sufficiently to
suit her own purposes, she played with it again for Armand's
benefit. She wanted to bring him back to a Christian frame of
mind; she brought out her edition of Le Genie du Christianisme,
adapted for the use of military men. Montriveau chafed; his yoke
was heavy. Oh! at that, possessed by the spirit of
contradiction, she dinned religion into his ears, to see whether
God might not rid her of this suitor, for the man's persistence
was beginning to frighten her. And in any case she was glad to
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