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Old Acquaintance

John Collier

First published January 1941
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

Just before she dies, Madame Dupres tells her husband that she has been in love with their friend Robert the whole of their 20-year marriage. Monsieur Dupres goes out to adjust to both this news and his freedom without letting anyone know his wife has died. Then he is astonished to meet both his wife and Robert in a cafe. The three of them spend the night in dissipation.

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
January 1941 Cover Presenting Moonshine The Viking Press Collection 115
January 1941 Cover Presenting Moonshine Macmillan and Co. Collection
1943 Cover The Touch of Nutmeg and More Unlikely Stories The Press of the Readers Club Collection 189
1945 Cover Green Thoughts and Other Strange Tales Editions for the Armed Services Collection
November 1951 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Doubleday Collection 107
April 1953 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Bantam Books Collection 148
December 1957 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Bantam Books Collection 110
1958 Cover Pictures in the Fire Rupert Hart-Davis Collection 64
1963 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Bantam Books Collection
1965 Cover Of Demons and Darkness Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection
1965 Cover Fancies and Goodnights (selections) Time-Life Books Collection 120
1969 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Bantam Books Collection 124
1969 Cover De Dame op de Schimmel De Arbeiderspers Collection 160
1980 Cover Fancies and Goodnights (selections) Time-Life Books Collection 120
March 1981 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Doubleday / SFBC Collection 117
May 2003 Cover Fancies and Goodnights New York Review of Books Collection 124