Publisher's Synopsis
Maître Cornélius (English "Master Cornelius") is a short story by Honoré de Balzac. It was published in 1831 and is one of the Études philosophiques of La Comédie humaine. The story is set in Tours in 1479. It starts with Marie de Saint-Vallier, an illegitimate daughter of Louis XI attending mass at Tours Cathedral with her much older husband, the Comte de Saint-Vallier. He falls asleep, and Marie's lover Georges d'Estouteville comes over to speak to her. He tells her that he will meet her that night in her home, by breaking in from the home of Cornelius Hoogworst who lives next door.
