I asked because I think it's a key fact to answering, "Some blamed the unfaithful wife. Others badmouthed the opportunistic young man. However, some also thought the professor was silly to have left them together in the first place. What do you think?"

I don't blame anyone in the situation. I try not to judge. So I take it you think she should have divorced the husband and waited to commence the relationship. Doesn't seem realistic to me.

as for real love, my collection of short poems https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/unconditional-love-3481bffe22f4 contains

"Unconditional

love twixt humans forever?

Perhaps, perhaps not.

Love is a state of being.

Beings constantly in flux.

Diana’s prompt for today happens to be an oxymoronic “what are the conditions of unconditional love?” I suspect many have much to say on that topic. I have thought about people’s feelings on the subject and here is food for thought for you — love is a state of being — many feel one cannot fall out of true love — here’s the fallacy in that — many correctly believe that we are constantly changing — so, since love is a state of being, it is inconsistent to insist that one cannot fall out of true love. That one falls out of love does not mean the love was never true. That all describes my thoughts about love between humans."

In other words, both marriages can be real love. The first just ran its course.