Guy de Maupassant, arguably one of the fathers of the modern short story, wrote over three hundred short stories. “Rust” is one of his more amusing stories. I found it in Selected Short Stories, and I’m working steadily through the entire selection. You can read it for free from The University of Adelaide Library.
It tells of a hunter, who lives for hunting and nothing else. His friends think he needs a wife, and they find him one. As he had “got out of the habit of… of… of… love” he goes off to Paris for a few weeks to make sure everything still works.
I liked this. As with many of Maupassant’s stories, it is well-structured and straightforward. No messing. Just gets on with the story.