"The Greater Inclination" by Edith Wharton was the earliest collection of short fiction by the famed American writer of the Gilded Age. The collection consisted of eight works: seven short stories, and one short play in two acts. Its contents are: "The Muse's Tragedy," "A Journey," "The Pelican," "Souls Belated," "A Coward," "The Twilight of the God," "A Cup of Cold Water," and "The Portrait."