Madame Baptiste

Blanche was raped in her adolescence by a servant, a cowherd named Baptiste. Her family, anxious to hide the shame that this scandal has cast on their reputation, locks the young girl in their manor, thinking that four walls are enough to silence the mockery. One day, Blanche, whom the whole country nicknames "Madame Baptiste", tries to commit suicide, consumed by the painful memory she carries within her. A man saves her and, charmed by the woman who now owes him her life, he asks her to marry him, thus defying the moral barriers set by public opinion. Life now seems happy for Blanche, but one day, at the agricultural show, the insult comes again: "Madame Baptiste!"...

• maupassant