The first question about this novel seems to be, should Denise have married Octave or not? Perhaps the reader views Octave's greedy and corrupt nature and judges him harshly, or perhaps he is simply a man making the most of his good luck—in any case, Denise's first choice (to reject him) seems to imply that it was morally wrong to be with him, but perhaps that is too moralistic. It almost seems as if what he loved most about Denise was that she treated him as if his success wasn't what she was impressed with—she wanted him to show her his adoration.
Adoration is a core feature of the book, because the main crisis of the novel is that Octave, a rich and powerful local business legend, is reduced to a blubbering puddle by Denise's charm, and most importantly—her rejection. By rejecting Octave, she invites him to imagine that perhaps, her criticism might be valuable. That's why he falls in love with her, because she forces him to respect her point of view by refusing to give him what he wants from her.
This refusal is not the end of the story though, because Octave uses adoration as a means of humiliating himself. Once he isn't arrogant or proud, she is able to see the quality of his character. It seems that although he is undeniably greedy, there are real virtues behind his business skill, and those virtues happen to be very attractive to Denise. All in all, the novel reads like two birds in a mating dance, bowing to one another as they approach.
