Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) is regarded as a master of short story writing. First published in 1890, “Useless Beauty” is one of his best-known tales. It is centered around the story of a beautiful French countess who one day decides to tell his husband that the father of one of their sons is not him. This edition contains the 1909 English translation by Alfred de Sumichrast (1845-1933) and Adolphe Cohn (1851-1930). It also includes the beautiful essay “Guy de Maupassant” written by Henry James (1843-1916) in 1888.