Who is Valentine from The Collected Stories of Colette and what is their importance?

Valentine is a good friend of Colette's and appears quite a bit, especially in the early stories. Valentine is a kind-hearted woman, whose company Colette seems to enjoy. However, she has a tendency to be slightly superficial and shallow, overly preoccupied with fashions and other people's lives. She has certain failings, as well, that complicate her character. For example, she is unwilling to return a painting, even when it was bequeathed to her through a strange series of confused circumstances. Like many women of her time, Valentine is preoccupied with appearing young, and is baffled when her lover breaks up with her because she is too painted and false-looking; she does not understand the appeal of a "natural" look. In these stories, she often has her hair cut and is buying new clothes, trying to be very fashionable and find the most flattering thing. She and Colette also pursue other interests, and go to the country for grape-harvests and drives. Valentine appears in later works, as well, but only as a peripheral character. In the opening story of the Valentine series, Colette breaks off their friendship; however, the fact that this letter is followed by numerous stories of their time together, the reader wonders how serious Colette was about ending the friendship.