Ninon's tender friendship for the husband continued in spite of his
grave violation of the principles of his accepted philosophy, and when
he was deserted, sick and helpless, she went to him and brought him
cheer and comfort.
Ninon was so little imbued with jealousy that when she discovered a
liaison between her own lover, Marquis de Villarceaux and her friend,
Madame Scarron, she was not even angry. The two were carrying on their
amour in secret, and as they supposed without Ninon's knowledge, whose
presence, indeed, they deemed a restraint upon their freedom of
action. The Marquis considered himself a traitor to Ninon, and Madame
Scarron stood in fear of her reproaches for her betrayal. But Ninon,
instead of taking either of them to task, as she would have been
justified in doing, gently remonstrated with them for their secrecy,
and by her kindness reassured both of them and relieved them from
their embarrassment, making them understand that she desired nothing
so much as their happiness. Both the Marquis and his mistress made
Ninon their confidante, and thereafter lived in perfect amity until
the lovers grew tired of each other, Madame Scarron aiming higher than
an ordinary Marquis, now that she saw her way clear to mounting the
social ladder.
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