Domestic Peace

From the Scenes of Private Life section of Honore de Balzac's great masterwork The Human Comedy, this novella is set at a grand ball at the height of the Napoleonic era. The usual suspects from the city's aristocracy are joined by a newcomer-a mysterious, beautiful young woman whose eyes seem to bespeak an overwhelming sadness. Several of the men in attendance vie for her affections-and all of their lives are changed in the course of a single evening.