Yes. It makes perfect sense to me. It is sort of the "to whom much is given much is expected" adage. If you love someone so much, you see the good in them, the potential for good, and the promise of good, you usually have invested in them, with your time, energy and love. So that deep love creates a deep expectation. Regarding the instances of cruelty and love in the novel, the most obvious instance is Brataille and his " love" for Thérèse. Was it cruel for Souren's mother to send him away from her to save his life? She sent him off into the unknown in legitimate fear of the known. Camille and her husband kept a child not their own to "love," while committing an unspeakable cruelty to her and her remaining family. Proust was very fond of Camille and yet, it was somewhat cruel of him AND her to limit her family life so much with her devotion to him. There is Guillaume and his "love" for Suzanne. He doesn't respect her wishes and he stalks her for years due to his professed "love" which is more obsession. While we aren't told she knows of his stalking - it still would be distressing, to say the least, to have an unrequited love following you for years. Unfortunately, love and cruelty do often go hand in hand and it is often only one person in the relationship who experiences the cruelty that the other hands out under the guise of "love".