After the Pardon

In this romance, Donna Maria, who has left her husband for her lover, returns home after three years' absence. Her husband, realizing that the fault was his in part, desires her return, and offers her his pardon. The great passion of her life, "beyond all laws and duties," is over, and she wishes only to atone to her husband for his suffering by devoting herself to his happiness. She advises her lover, Count Marco, to marry the betrothed he had deserted for her sake. The second part of the book is the story of their failure to escape from the past. Count Marco fails to make his young bride happy, because she is jealous of his past, and refuses to be content with the fond affection he offers her. Donna Maria's husband, also, is unwilling to accept less than his wife has given to another. His love is jealousy and suspicion, and the pardon becomes a tragic farce of daily accusation and condemnation. He wishes Donna Maria had never returned. Traveling alone in Switzerland, Donna Maria meets Count Marco, whose wife's coldness has driven him from her. They have learned that they can never bring happiness to the two they have wronged, who desire the impossible. United by the memory of their dead love, they are still dear to each other, and decide it is their destiny to spend the rest of their lives together since their only happiness is the remembrance of the happiness they have lost.