Balzac opens with a witty definition of the lorette, the kept woman of 1840s Paris, then lets one of his recurring characters tell a story over supper about a beauty in a reading-room, the retired coach-builder Croizeau and other admirers who come courting, and a grasping debt collector outwitted by an even sharper man of fashion.
A short, sly comedy of Parisian money and manners from The Human Comedy. Download the free EPUB.