A young girl farmhand falls pregnant. She hides her condition from her master, gives birth in secret and entrusts the baby to friends. Henceforth, she will have to work very hard to support her secret…

Wishing to sparkle for the space of an evening out, the wife of a modest ministry worker borrows a diamond necklace from a friend. But, on the way home, she loses it. The couple decides not to say any…

The clerk Cachelin has pushed his daughter, sole heiress of a wealthy aunt, to marry one of his ministry colleagues. The money will only come to the young woman if a child is born within three years. …

During the German occupation of 1870, two friends, nostalgic for their pre-war fishing outings, manage to avoid the blockades to go fishing. But they are discovered by the Prussians, who accuse them o…

The young farmer Césaire weds Céleste against the wishes of his father, Amable. All winter, Césaire works like a Trojan to support his homestead. He eventually dies, leaving his father Amable and Céle…

Hautot senior is gravely injured while out hunting. With his dying breath, he reveals to his son that he has had a secret relationship with a young seamstress for several years and asks him to watch o…

An artist shows his friends a painting from his youth which plunges him back into the past. A chance encounter led him to meet an English spinster called Miss Harriet. The lady was initially very unap…

An innkeeper with an excessive taste for food and wine suffers from a seizure that leaves him bed-ridden. His wife, seeing him become useless, forces him to incubate eggs in front of all his friends.

Madame Husson, a bigoted widow, respectable and rich, has decided to crown the "rosière": the most virtuous girl from Gisors. But she finds nobody to crown, except for Isidore, the son of the fruit se…

In their castle at Tourbeville, Mr. and Mrs. de Méroul receive Joseph Mouradour, a republican, a former friend of Mr Méroul. This friend moves into their home. Instead of kicking him out, Mr. and Mrs.…

Two very poor peasant families, the Tuvache and Vallin families, live in neighbouring houses. A rich woman from the city who cannot have children, offers to buy the Tuvache family's youngest son. They…

Old mother Magloire stubbornly refuses to sell her farm to Master Chicot, the innkeeper from Epreville. But when he offers to pay her a monthly allowance until her death, she ends up agreeing. After t…

In a train compartment, Morin, a haberdasher from La Rochelle, takes a chance and kisses a young girl, Henriette. Morin is arrested immediately. To help his friend, the journalist Labarbe goes to see …

Master Saval goes to Paris to attend an opera. In a restaurant he meets the painter Romantin, who invites him to a party he is organising. At this party, Romantin leaves Saval alone to welcome the gue…

Marguerite leads an apparently blameless life with her husband, a magistrate, who for a long time has no longer been attracted to her. Under the name of Ms. Clarisse, she takes soldiers as lovers, and…

The Count of Sallure has just ended his relationship with his mistress and has had a jealous scene with his wife. She accepts his advances but demands that he pay her a large sum of money, which she c…