Donatien-Alphonse-François, marquis de SADE. L.A., [August-September 1765], to his uncle the Abbé de Sade; 4 pages in-4. Curious letter, in which Sade, then aged twenty-five, confides to his uncle his repugnance for his wife. Sade begins by explaining his escapade in the South of France with a courtesan, Beauvoisin... "My first fault was undoubtedly to have chosen such a travelling companion, but having her, it was difficult for me to leave her [...] I do not see my honor, nor my probity compromised in any way [...] I do not reproach myself for any naughtiness"... As for the money problems, "the rascal Jew refuses to pay, it seems to me that all the bad faith is on his part and that I am not responsible for the rascality of the Jew"... He goes on to talk about women... "the women I see can spoil my mind, but not my heart". He cannot love his wife: "I have done the impossible, my dear uncle, to overcome the repugnance she inspired in me from the first moment, I have never been the master of it". He recalls the circumstances of his marriage, arranged without his consent... "My mouth promised what my heart could not keep [...] I believed that my duty consisted in hiding my true feelings, I almost deceived myself, and the obligation to be false by numbing the true feelings of my heart made me for a moment find my duty less onerous by disguising my hatred, tired of being so long constrained and of having said for two years that I love you without thinking it, I tried to think it to have pleasure in saying it. I saw clearly then, but by reproaching myself for having deceived, I planned to deceive even better [...] I am more worthy of being pitied than blamed"...