"Gaudissart II" by Honoré de Balzac In this very short story, the owner of a Parisian shop sells a cheap shawl at an inflated price to a wealthy Englishwoman by pretending that it used to be owned by the Empress Joséphine. The Parisian salesmen in the story are compared to both the fictitious Felix Gaudissart who appears in Balzac's other stories, and the real-life politician Talleyrand for their cunning.
