Balzac, Honoré de: Honorine, v1, IMP, 19 Dec 2007.
 

Honoré de Balzac: Honorine
Translated by Clara Bell

A novella of about 30,150 words.

A French diplomat in Italy tells a story of his youth, as secretary to Comte Octave de Bauvan, to two visiting writers.

Comte Octave de Bauvan’s young wife, Honorine loved him, but only in an idealistic sort of way. So she left him for a young man whom she didn’t idealise, but was subsequently abandoned.
The Count still loved her and secretly supported her. With the help of the secretary, a strategy is devised to make her some home. But the secretary falls for her…

I have restored accents and italics.