Dangerous Liaisons

29 October: Valmont writes to Merteuil. He has finally defeated Tourvel. He was starting to like her too much—schoolboy feelings, he says—but he will overcome them. He cannot wait to return to Merteuil crowned with victory and claim his reward.

He tells Merteuil how the final scene went. He and Tourvel met. He said he would either possess her or die. She would not give in. He became resolute and attempted to return her letters in a very morose fashion. He hinted that after he parted from her, he would die by suicide. She did not want that and gave in. She was tense until he told her how happy she was making him.

30 October: Rosemonde writes to Tourvel. She praises Tourvel’s constancy, saying how it “was easier to bear than remorse for wrongdoing and self-contempt” (314). She is grateful that Valmont is returning to the fold, when he was accustomed to treating women on such a low level, taking pleasure in seducing them as much as ruining them.