In the title story, Car'line Aspent, bewitched and seduced by the dazzling fiddler Mop Ollamoor, rejects her loyal suitor Ned only to repent her decision and seek him out years later. The ten other stories share the theme of love, but they are more than simple love stories. Written with Hardy's customary compassion for ordinary women and his sharp sense of irony, they tell of romantic disasters, betrayals, misunderstandings, and cruelties. The stories in this collection were written between 1888 and 1900, when Hardy was also writing his greatest and most important novels.