The adaptee should have a private relationship to the adapter, whether it is inherited or contained.  This is because we do not want a client reaching into the internals of the adapter and getting access to the raw, unconverted, untranslated, unadapted state.  Remember that before adaptation, the adaptee’s state is not fit for consumption.  Naturally, since the target’s interface is the interface which is acceptable to the client, then it is the one that is exposed and public.

This is similar to the behavior of a major corporation or political party’s P.R. department or spin-machine.  Things happen day by day in major organizations and it is preferable that the spin-doctors have a go at the material before releasing it to the press or general public.  The “unadorned truth” reflects the adaptee’s interface while the “palatable statements,” which can be released to the press, fits the target interface.  When everything is scoped up properly, the client becomes like the public which reads the press-release in the paper.  When we get the scoping wrong, however, the client becomes like the investigative reporter who has inside contacts and is able to dig mercilessly into the guts of the story and expose all the unpleasant stuff.