In Vienna, Irene leads a quiet middle-class life with her husband, a lawyer, and their two children. One day, as she leaves the home of her lover, a young pianist, she is stopped by a woman she does not know. The woman accuses her of stealing this man from her, and demands money.
The blackmail starts again, over and over, and the fear of being found out invades every moment of her family life. Zweig describes this anguish from the inside, with a tension that never lets the reader go.
You can read this short story in one sitting in the language you are learning.
