The story of “Useless Beauty” opens with the existence of a carriage in front of the Count of Mascaret’s mansion. The Countess of Mascaret is going somewhere with her and her husband wants to go with her. She allows it despite making her uncomfortable. In the carriage, she is angry that the Count of Mascaret tries to flatter her.

They finally fight but quietly because she threatens to scream if the count doesn’t listen to what she says. She tells him that she is disappointed, angry and hateful towards him. She has been married for eleven years but already has seven children. When the countess became pregnant, she was sent to the country, family castle. Furthermore, when she reappeared, fresh and pretty and immaculate, she was once again a rich young woman.

The countess thinks that the count loves his children not as a father but as a victory over his youth and his life. To her anger, the countess asks her to go to church because she wants to tell the truth.

Arrived at the church, they kneel at the altar. The countess says that one of her sons is not her son. The countess gives her body to that man who turns her into a mother, not for giving love but for betraying her husband. After telling him her confession, the countess leaves him alone in the church and goes home.

The next night, the countess waits for him in the drawing room because she is sure that he will come. She now she no longer feels anything. She is approaching dinner time and she tells her too. Facing her children, she asks once more about the truth. However, the Countess still stands by what she said that day. She makes him very angry and she leaves the dining room rudely. This incident makes her children feel shocked; luckily, the countess is able to calm them down.