White Lies

A long-established provincial baron sees his comfortable household threatened when social and political unrest leads to financial collapse and the sale of ancestral property. The narrative alternates intimate domestic scenes and public turmoil, following servants, relations, and suitors as secrets, confidences, and strained loyalties surface. Romantic attachments and small acts of courage are set against mounting debt, peasant agitation, and the erosion of aristocratic security, producing moments of emotional crisis and practical decision-making that probe themes of honor, social obligation, and the resilience of personal bonds amid sweeping change.