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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: "Angel!" thought d'Arthez.
"After all, I have never blamed my mother; she knew little of me.
Mothers who lead a life like that of the Duchesse d'Uxelles keep their
children at a distance. I saw and knew nothing of the world until my
marriage. You can judge of my innocence! I knew nothing; I was
incapable of understanding the causes of my marriage. I had a fine
fortune; sixty thousand francs a year in forests, which the Revolution
overlooked (or had not been able to sell) in the Nivernais, with the
noble chateau of d'Anzy. Monsieur de Maufrigneuse was steeped in debt.
Later I learned what it was to have debts, but then I was too utterly
ignorant of life to suspect my position; the money saved out of my
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