Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) is arguably the greatest European novelist in terms of the range and power of his writing. Most of his short stories predate his long novels and are written in a different style.

One of the earliest is An Episode of the Reign of Terror in which two nuns and a priest in hiding from the mob are visited by a stranger with a very peculiar request, and even odder motives behind it.

The nuns and the priest are curious as to the identity of the mysterious man... but nothing can prepare the old priest for the shock he experiences when he discovers who his visitor really is....