It’s pretty self-evident, isn’t it? We know that Saint Paula’s grudge against her own aristocratic and wealthy parents drove her to embrace left-wing politics and inferior schooling for her son. Since there could be no rational motive for her making these choices, it’s safe to assume that her sole aim was to stage a very public vote of no confidence in her own privileged upbringing. Privilege is highly addictive: prized and sought after by those who’ve never had it, and almost impossible to object to when one has it in abundance, unless one’s antipathy for those bestowing it is strong enough to overwhelm all such self-interested considerations. (Don’t even think about mentioning altruism or the greater good as possible motivations, dear reader. Have you forgotten the sorry tale of the five betrayed wives? Saint Paula cares not a jot for anything but the gratification of her own ego. In that respect, she is like nearly all of the rest of us.)

The question we must ask ourselves is this: in what circumstances might regular adulteries that undermine and eventually destroy one’s marriage feel more gratifying to the ego than cherishing and protecting one’s family unit? What kind of psyche could ruthlessly strip innocent women of their husbands, drive away a once-devoted spouse who also happens to be heir to a colossal diamond fortune, create a broken home for one’s only child (who already has the misfortune of attending a broken school) and still emerge from all this with “Yay for me!” as one’s dominant narrative?

Could it be that Saint Paula gets an enormous power kick out of undermining the institution of marriage? Every man she seduces into betraying his wife represents a victory over the father who made her feel powerless. And all of those foolish, trusting wives who soldier on in ignorance prove to Paula that she is cleverer and better than they are; they are all too stupid to spot that they’re married to utter bastards, and therefore deserving of everything they get.

If I’m right, this would explain why, having successfully kept at least some of her secrets for years, Our Lady of Privilege should suddenly decide to boast in print about these transgressions. Would it be anywhere near as much fun if she didn’t get to publicly humiliate all her victims, male and female? Take that, Baron Daddy and Baroness Mummy!