How would an etiquette expert deal with an extramarital affair? Let’s ask The Real Housewives of New York City‘s resident countess.

Although she was full of dating advice for costar Bethenny Frankel (you can eavesdrop on that conversation after the jump), it turns out LuAnn de Lesseps was having her own relationship problems back at home.

According to the New York Post, LuAnn recently discovered that her husband of 16 years, Count Alexandre de Lesseps, had been seeing another woman. Alexandre reportedly confirmed his cheating ways to his (fourth) wife in a less than proper manner. “They decided to separate. She got wind he was seeing somebody and he didn’t answer her when she called. He finally sent her an e-mail saying he was with an Ethiopian woman in Geneva and he was serious with her,” a friend claimed.

But since she still has an upcoming book to promote (Class with the Countess: How to Live with Elegance and Flair hits shelves on April 16), this is not a time for the mother and former model to start getting ugly. “It is obviously a very difficult time for The Countess and Count but they plan to remain friends and their primary focus will be to do what is best for their two children,” her rep stated.

It’s unknown at this point what these developments might mean for Season 3 or LuAnn’s title.