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hat is quite enough of Mrs. Corning's diary for now. Mr. Acton still does not know about the incident, and I have not yet decided whether to tell him or no.
I herewith apologize to all my readers who have been justly dismayed by the depravity of this delusional woman. I do not know whether this display is due to emotional stress, or an organic condition, or something else. I have read this section of the diary many many times, not for prurient interest of course, but because I am striving to comprehend why what seemed to be a decent Englishwoman would turn into the equal of the most shameless harlot. Where could she possibly have learned of that filthy French practice, "faire une pipe?" And what demon had compelled her to either attempt, or to imagine an attempt at actually performing such a disgusting practice on Mr. Acton?
In this diary section Mrs. Corning claims to have learned that Acton considers her too old for a romantic entanglement from his own lips. Readers here know it is true that Acton desired a young wife as he said as much in his letter, but I'm sure Mrs. Corning could have easily intuited this fact, as the desire for a younger wife is by no means uncommon among Englishmen.
Possibly the most shocking aspect of this diary entry, whether fact or fiction, is Mrs. Corning's clear delight in wielding power over a man, "bending his will" as she says. This is yet another sign of the moral decay in these modern times, every bit as much as Mrs. Corning's carnal depravity. For it goes not only against good sense, but God's own will for a woman to attain so much agency over a man - even in her over-heated imagination.
Mr. Acton was not injured by whatever it was that Mrs. Corning did to him, as he wrote in his letter to me:
For the next few days I felt peculiar, as though I had run the Marathon and needed to regather my strength. By the third day I had fully recovered, which was fortunate as the garden-party was to commence on Saturday, and I wanted to be at my most presentable when I finally met young Miss Jane.
(To be continued...)
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