text: There is a long amiable letter to the young Lafayette in 1779 , in which Washington , in a giddy mood , drifts into a reverie about competing for Lafayette 's young wife with Lafayette himself--a funny bit of teasing , followed abruptly by a rueful reassurance , worthy of Stendhal himself , that amidst all the wonders recorded in holy writ no instance can be produced where a Woman from real inclination has preferred an old man .
  
  ###
  
  Although he had pursued her as a single man , several years later , Washington still harbored feelings for Lafayette 's wife and thought of her as " the one that got away . "