Conjugial Love (Acton) n. 287

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287. XVI. THAT THEY ARE FOR THE SAKE OF VARIOUS FAVORS EXPECTED FROM THE PARTNER OR FROM THE PARTNER'S KINDRED; THUS BECAUSE OF THE FEAR OF LOSING THEM. This is the case especially in marriages between those of unlike station and condition, respecting which see no. 250; as when a man marries a wealthy wife and she puts away her money in bags or her treasure on mortgage, and still more if she insists boldly that the husband is in duty bound to support the household out of his own property and income. That this results in forced similitudes of love as though it were conjugial, is a matter of common knowledge. The like is the case if a wife is taken whose parents, kindred, and friends are in offices of dignity, in lucrative business or in mercantile occupations, and are in a position to influence the state of his prosperity. That because of this there are simulations of love as though it were conjugial, is also a matter of common knowledge. That in both these cases they are on account of fear of the loss of these things is obvious.


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