In 1819 two young men share a coach-seat on the road out of Paris and swap confidences about the older women they love. When an accident leaves one of them dying, the narrator is charged with taking his final message and keepsakes to a countess in her country house, and with watching what the news does to her.
A compact, poignant tale from The Human Comedy, ideal as a first taste of Balzac. Download the free EPUB.