can expect emotionally charged tales set in the social milieus of Maupassant’s France. The opening of this volume begins with "L'Inutile Beauté," centering on the marital conflict between the Comte and Comtesse de Mascaret. The story reveals the wife’s resentment over her husband's jealousy and his strategy of repeated pregnancies to keep her undesirable to other men. A dramatic confrontation leads Gabrielle, the comtesse, to declare that one of their seven children is not her husband's, plunging the family into doubt and emotional turmoil. The narrative explores themes of control, motherhood, revenge, and the search for personal freedom. Moving on, the collection introduces "Le Champ d'Oliviers," where an aging priest, Vilbois, unexpectedly encounters a young vagabond who claims to be his illegitimate son from a long-ago love affair. The opening of this story highlights themes of regret, lost love, and the burdens of the past as the two men come to terms with their connection. (This is an automatically generated summary.)