Two huntsmen lost near the forest of L’Isle-Adam stumble on a ruined monastery where a strange, half-wild woman repeats only one word. One of them, Major Philippe de Sucy, recognises her as the countess he loved and lost during Napoleon’s retreat from Russia. A long flashback relives the burning bridges of the Beresina before Philippe attempts a desperate cure.
A short, harrowing novella from The Human Comedy, one of Balzac’s most vivid scenes of war. Download the free EPUB.