When Julia Child met her husband she was a 6’2” tall, 31 year old virgin and a bit of an oddball. Her husband Paul Child was a shorter, bald, wore glasses, was 10 years older, a civil servant and aspiring artist. His modest accomplishments in life were totally eclipsed by his famous wife.

They married when she was 34 and by all accounts had an extremely active sex life for at least the first decade of their marriage, including her husband often coming home on his lunch hour for a quickie. When she was in her 40’s she told a friend she was afraid she had been too obsessed with sex, and that the sexual part of their marriage had finally settled into “its appropriate place in life”. She also said that all she and Paul needed in life was the kitchen and the bedroom. They remained completely devoted to each other until his death.

They sent out Valentines Day cards to their friends. Below is an example. https://parade.com/666423/lindsaylowe/julia-child-and-her-husband-made-the-sweetest-valentines-day-cards/

Atlas always says a marriage is a black box and outsiders never know what’s really inside, I think this is true. Without speculating or insisting that it probably wasn’t what it seemed, taking this relationship as presented on face value, is this what settling looks like? If so, is this the worst relationship outcome you can imagine for two people who objectively had low SMV?