The Necklace

Mr. Loisel is a man of action. After initially feeling "dumbfounded" like his wife, he goes out and does something to solve their problem. Mrs. Loisel, however, never seems to shake the shock. She is, for all intents and purposes, worthless. 

"I'll go over all the ground we walked," he said, "and see if I can't find it."

And he went out. She remained in her evening clothes, lacking strength to get into bed, huddled on a chair, without volition or power of thought.

Her husband returned about seven. He had found nothing.

He went to the police station, to the newspapers, to offer a reward, to the cab companies, everywhere that a ray of hope impelled him.

She waited all day long, in the same state of bewilderment at this fearful catastrophe.

Loisel came home at night, his face lined and pale; he had discovered nothing.