Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette's "The Secret Woman" tells the story of a man and his wife lying to each other in order to attend the green and purple ball, ironically they both encourage each other to attend yet still keep their secret. At first, the author perceives the husband as loving from the way he looks at his wife "admiring her narrow face, pink, matt and long, like a delicate sugared almond" (38). While at the same time still coming off as dishonest from the lies he tells his wife explaining "i'll be spending tomorrow night at Nogent" when he was really planning on attending the green and purple ball (38). The reader then notices the wife's light-hearted personality responding with witty jokes when her husband says he's never been to a ball "if I'd known, perhaps I wouldn't have married you..." (38). She is no longer in love with her husband, which is why she acts the way she does when she enters the ball.…show more content… The reader notices the couples behavior towards one another and it's possible that the woman only married the man for his wealth and class, and the joke she made about him never attending an Opera Ball was not meant to be a joke. The husband's big lie to his wife was when he mentioned he was needed for work "they've just telephoned me, and I'm very much afraid that my patient, you know the poor old lady..." hinting that he is a sort of doctor (38). However, the wife's lie was explaining how she would not attend a ball "can you see me in the crowd, at the mercy of all those hands" (38). Both couples lied, yet only the wife
