"An Episode under the Terror" by Honoré de Balzac is a short story published in 1830. Set during the Reign of Terror in 1793, it follows an elderly ex-Carmelite nun and her companions hiding in Paris as they practice their faith in secret. When a mysterious stranger offers protection and requests a mass for the executed King Louis XVI, they accept his help. But the stranger's true identity will prove both shocking and morally complex, revealing an unexpected connection to the revolution's darkest deeds. (This is an automatically generated summary.)