DELIVERY

Dragging myself along in that servile way in the wake of others and winning a victory without any glory!…No, she shall not have the pleasures of vice and the honours of virtue. It is not enough for me to possess her, I want her to surrender. Now in order for that to happen, not only must I get into her room, I must arrive there at her invitation, find her alone and ready to listen, and especially to close her eyes to the danger, for if she sees it she must rise above it or die. But the more I know what I have to do, the harder I find it to carry it out. And if you were again to make fun of me, I can tell you that my embarrassment increases the more I think about it.

(Letter CX, The Vicomte de Valmont to the Marquise de Merteuil)