Interesting point * Baggs*.
Sorry to sound like a bit of a boffin here, (it's a passion of mine, and 19th century French literature was my specialist subject at university!).
Le rouge et le noir by Stendahl has a protagonist, Sorel, who falls in love with the much older wife of the mayor when he tutors their children. When the relationship is discovered, he departs for Paris, with the words that he will return to her at a later date.
Why am I mentioning this? Who cares? But going through my thoughts .....
1. We know that Brigitte and Macron studied 19th century together after school. They read Stendahl's works together.
2. We know that the words used by Macron when he said he would return to marry her are the exact same words used by Sorel in the book.
3. We know Macron loves that psychological novel because it is lying on the table in his official portrait.
The parallels are to obvious to ignore. I recommend a read, in English, though it's a bit wordy and tedious in the middle.
And here endeth my lesson in French literature for today.
