322. (5) The marriage of an inexperienced man with a virgin differs in state from the marriage of an inexperienced man with a widow. By states of marriage we mean the states of each partner's life, of the husband and wife, after the wedding, thus in their marriage such as their life together is then, whether it is an internal one involving their souls and minds (which is the principal idea in what it is to share a life), or whether it is only an external one connected with their dispositions, senses and body. The state in the marriage of an inexperienced man with a virgin is the true beginning state to a genuine marriage; for advancing from first warmth to first fire, and then from first seed on the part of the inexperienced husband and first bloom on the part of the virgin wife, conjugial love is able to proceed between them in its proper progression, and thus sprout, grow and come to fruition and introduce them into its states together. Otherwise the inexperienced man was not an inexperienced man, nor the virgin a virgin, except in outward appearance. Between an inexperienced man and a widow, however, there is not the same initiation from first beginnings to marriage, nor the same progression in marriage, since a widow is more her own mistress and more independent than a single woman. An inexperienced man accordingly pays court to a widowed wife with a different regard than he would a virgin wife. Such marriages, however, exhibit much variety and diversity, and therefore we mention only this common characteristic.