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A retired notary asks for a divorce after discovering the ingenious history behind his wife’s advertised fortune.
A lonely traveler reunites with a boastful school friend whose lavish home hides an unexpected family business.
A wealthy, childless couple offers two poor farming families money and security in exchange for adopting a son.
A pregnant widow is sued in open court by the married man she promised to pay for helping secure an inheritance.
A stagecoach full of villagers turns one man’s earache into a public medical emergency and a traveling comedy.
A lavish wedding breakfast paid for by an estranged daughter turns awkward when the groom chooses the wrong song.
An art dealer lends a cash-strapped baroness a Renaissance Christ and trusts her to invent a profitable story around it.
On her first trip to Paris, a newlywed becomes alarmed when her husband does not rejoin her after boarding an omnibus.
An exile has built a fortune around one plan: return to the woman whose love ruined him.
A contented clerk dismisses his beloved wife’s glittering jewels as paste until widowhood forces him to have one valued.
A wealthy friend’s will leaves a married couple arguing over whether reputation matters more than one million francs.
A Norman peasant explains how Saint Michel acquired the Devil’s rich farmland through bargains, crops, and local cunning.
An innkeeper buys a stubborn widow’s farm on a life annuity, then grows impatient when she remains stubbornly healthy.
A clerk’s dissatisfied wife borrows a glittering necklace for one night among the wealthy, then pays dearly when it vanishes.
A duel between two dragoons reveals the secret arrangement of a widow known for piety and strict respectability.
A miserly woman refuses to replace her husband’s ruined umbrella—until an insurance policy suggests a way to avoid paying.
When an ostrich supposedly swallows a priceless diamond aboard ship, five ordinary birds become the stakes in an escalating auction.
A ragged stranger claims to carry a fortune in man-made diamonds, but every proof of his success has made him look more like a criminal.
A shabby barroom storyteller explains how he was promised a fortune by an unread author—and why he never received it.
A timid shopkeeper eats a strange mushroom after a domestic quarrel and returns home with a violent idea of merriment.
A Yukon camp's judge wakes alone in a boat with no food and no memory of how he got there.
To settle her father's debt, El-Soo puts herself up for auction while refusing the creditor who wants to own her.
After a motor race, a wealthy young Irishman joins his foreign friends for a night of celebration.
A boy shelters an injured wanderer while his Louisiana family faces losing the money for his schooling.
