Summary of "Useless Beauty" by Guy De Maupassant

The story of “Useless Beauty” is opened with the existence of a carriage in front of the mansion of Count de Mascaret. Countess de Mascaret will go to somewhere and her husband wants to go with her. She allows him in spite of making her uncomfortable. In the carriage, she is angry because Count de Mascaret tries to flatter her.

Finally, they fight but in low voice because she threats that she will scream if the count does not hear what she says. She tells her disappointed, anger and hatred to him. She has married for eleven years but she has already seven children. When the countess got pregnant, she was sent into the country, family chateau. Moreover, when she reappeared, fresh, pretty and unspoiled, she came back again to be a rich young woman.

The countess thinks that the count loves their children not as a father but as a victory over her youth and her life. In her anger, the countess asks him to go to the church because she wants to tell the truth.

Arrived in the church, they get down the knees in the altar. The countess says that one of their children is not his child. The countess surrenders her body to that man whom makes her as a mother, not for giving love but for betraying her husband. After telling the confession, the countess leaves him in the church alone and she goes home.

Night after that, the countess waits him in the drawing room because she feels sure that he will come. Now, she feels nothing anymore. The dinnertime is coming and the count too. In front of their children, he asks about the truth once more. However, the countess still keeps a stand what she told that day. It makes him so angry and leaves the dining room rudely. This incident makes their children feels shocked; fortunately, the countess can calm them down.

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