Domestic Peace

From the "e;Scenes of Private Life"e; 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.