# Letter 30: Cecilia Volanges to the Chevalier Danceny explained — Dangerous Liaisons

> Chapter companion for Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.

## What happens

Cecilia writes to Danceny, confessing her love and promising to be more open in her correspondence. She expresses regret for her previous silence, blames it on her fear of doing wrong, and looks forward to seeing him that evening. She hopes he will be happy now that she has declared her feelings.

## Themes in this chapter

### Innocence and Experience

Cecilia's letter reveals her naivety and internal conflict between her feelings for Danceny and her sense of propriety.

### Epistolary Form and Unreliable Truth

Cecilia's declaration of love is mediated through the letter, highlighting the tension between sincere emotion and the constraints of written expression.

## Character check-ins

### Cecilia Volanges

Writes to Danceny, confessing her love and promising to be more open.

### Chevalier Danceny

Recipient of Cecilia's letter; she hopes her confession will ease his melancholy.

### Madame de Volanges

Cecilia mentions that her mother is supping at home and may invite Danceny to stay.

## Key lines

> At last, Sir, I consent to write to you, to assure you of my friendship, of my love even, since without that you must be unhappy.

I finally agree to write and tell you I love you, because your unhappiness without it is too much for me.

_Cecilia reluctantly breaks her silence out of concern for Danceny's feelings._

> The reason was, I would not, for all the world, do anything that was wrong; and I should not even have owned my affection for you, if I could have helped it; but your grief gave me too much uneasiness.

I didn't write because I didn't want to do anything improper, and I wouldn't have admitted my love if I could have avoided it, but your sadness made me too uncomfortable.

_Cecilia explains her earlier hesitation as a conflict between propriety and compassion._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dangerous_liaisons_se/chapters/letter-30-cecilia-volanges-to-the-chevalier-danceny
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