"The Touchstone" by Edith Wharton tells the story of Stephen Glennard, a struggling New York lawyer desperate to marry the beautiful Alexa Trent but lacking the means to support her. He makes a fateful choice: selling the private letters of Margaret Aubyn, a celebrated novelist who once loved him hopelessly and has recently died. The publication becomes a bestseller, granting him wealth and Alexa's hand in marriage. Yet success breeds torment—haunted by guilt, Glennard realizes he has betrayed the one woman who truly loved him. Wharton's novella explores conscience, moral compromise, and the enduring power of a dead woman's devotion.
