There are, of course, some women who harbor an unconscious hatred for their male counterparts and employ refusal of sexual responsiveness in order to punish the male, or perhaps gain power over him. But in the instance of Marcia Addison, her principles were confused and backward, but certainly not hostile. She honestly believed that she was behaving in a normal and proper manner. Yet nature has its own way setting things to right, and Marcia's innate sexuality kept coming just up under the surface to plague her. She showed symptoms of unrest and insomnia, great nervous tension, mild depression, and general confusion. Marcia knew that something was wrong, but she fought the truth of it for as long as possible.

Fortunately, she could not fight for very long. Her loving husband, of a passionate nature himself, was constantly at her to change, and it was her love for this man that really triggered her search for the new woman she was to discover within herself. Marcia went through a period of agonizing reappraisal, but because of her long standing differences with her husband over the condition of their sex life, she could not come to him for help. It was in the arms of another man, unlikely for woman of this nature, but necessary in this instance, that Marcia ultimately discovered the excitement and great pleasure to be had through sex and in all its myriad forms. Another woman might have gone on with this affair for the fun of it, but for Marcia the affair was only a source of education, and what mattered to her at heart was her relationship with her own husband and the stability of her marriage. She did eventually face her husband with what she had done, but not until she had shown him with actions far more expressive than words that she had learned to see sex his way and to enjoy it tremendously. In this instance, this was one marriage that actually was saved by a woman's having an extramarital affair.