The Marquise of O

The story begins with a one-sentence paragraph – the widowed Marquise von O. places an announcement in the newspapers in a prominent north Italian town, saying she is pregnant and wishes the father of her child to come to her so she can marry him.

The Count finishes storming the citadel, attaining the surrender of the last pockets of resistance, and garrisoning the fort with his troopers.

Therefore, the family agrees the Count should leave to perform his military duty, and the Marquise will entertain no other prospective husbands in his absence.

The Count decides to visit her in V. After he is turned away by the porter, he enters through the garden and again begs the Marquise to marry him.

The Marquise publishes her announcement in the newspaper, asking the father of the unborn child to step forward and reveal his identity since she is resolved to marry the person who put her in this situation.

The next day, the newspaper prints another announcement, saying the father will be at the Colonel's house on the 3rd at eleven o’clock.

After she returns, the Marquise is sitting in her father's lap while he is kissing her ardently on the lips "like a lover!"

They eagerly await the arrival of the mysterious father, and agree, unless he is below her status, the Marquise should marry him immediately.

At the appointed hour, Leopardo walks in... to announce Count F. The Colonel's wife is satisfied, because she knows the Count is well-off and of good character from her earlier investigations, but the Marquise is visibly upset, and says she was willing to marry "a vicious man" ("einen Lasterhaften") but not a devil.

The Italian film Il seme della discordia is a modern adaptation of the novella.