"Beatrix" by Honoré de Balzac

A handsome young man named Calyste du Guénic is in love with the older woman, Félicité des Touches, a famous writer who uses the pen name of Camille Maupin. Félicité at first does not reciprocate Calyste's feelings, and Calyste falls in love with the blonde marchioness Béatrix de Rochefide. Béatrix is a beautiful but selfish woman. Béatrix had already had an affair with Gennaro Conti, and Calyste has an additional rival in the form of Claude Vignon. Félicité des Touches tries to help Calyste win Béatrix's heart, thus sacrificing her own.