A Cardinal Sin

In a cramped, impoverished quarter of the city, shy Mariette turns to a public scribe to write the letter she cannot read or compose herself. Her message, addressed to Louis Richard on the anniversary of their first meeting, is full of aching devotion, exhaustion, and fear: she works herself nearly to collapse, cares for her sick godmother, and longs for even a single word in return. The scribe's growing unease suggests that this innocent errand may be entangled with his own past, and a spilled inkstand gives him time to hide his feelings while offering to become her reader and secretary. Back at home, Mariette faces the bitter reality of poverty and illness. Madame Lacombe, crippled, suspicious, and hardened by years of suffering, lashes out with cruel accusations, only to be softened by Mariette's tenderness as the girl tends her wounds and prepares their meager meal. Their uneasy reconciliation reveals a world shaped by sacrifice, resentment, and fragile gratitude. Meanwhile, letters from Dreux and the interference of the usurer Porquin deepen the confusion around Mariette's fate, while Louis, convinced she has rejected him, is urged by Florestan de Saint-Herem to trust in the truth rather than appearances. When Louis finally reaches Mariette's home and finds her collapsed and half-conscious, the story turns tragic and urgent, with love, class deception, and desperate misunderstanding colliding at last. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.