Release date is 2005-12-22

The Old Maid -- The Awakening -- In the Spring -- The Jennet -- Rust -- The Substitute -- The Relic -- The Man with the Blue Eyes -- Allouma -- A Family Affair -- The Odalisque of Senichou -- A Good Match -- A Fashionable Woman -- The Carnival of Love -- A Deer Park in the Provinces -- The White Lady -- Caught -- Christmas Eve -- Words of Love -- A Divorce Case -- Who Knows? -- Simon's Papa -- Paul's Mistress -- The Rabbit -- The Twenty-Five Francs of the Mother Superior -- The Venus of Braniza -- La Morillonne -- Waiter, A "Bock" -- Regret -- The Port -- The Hermit -- The Orderly -- Duchoux -- Old Amable -- Magnetism.

E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

"The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Volume 4" by Guy de Maupassant is a collection of short stories likely written during the late 19th century. This volume features such narratives as "The Old Maid" and "The Awakening," exploring themes of love, loss, solitude, and human relationships through vivid character portraits and atmospheric settings. It presents the complexities of social life and the emotional struggles of its characters, often revealing deeper insights into the human condition. At the start of "The Old Maid," the narrative introduces Count Eustache d'Etchegorry, who has retreated to a rundown country house with his daughter, Marie-des-Anges, after experiencing personal and financial decline. This seclusion takes a toll on Marie-des-Anges, who navigates a life of quiet desperation, reflecting on her longing for love and the burden of her father's bitterness. The tension between her dreams and her dark reality is palpable, setting the stage for her romantic entanglements and emotional turmoil as she yearns for connection in a world constrained by societal expectations and familial obligations. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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