5 h 55 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 55 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Among Italian lakes and garden villas, love must find its way past secrets and impeccable manners.
In Henry Harland’s The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box, a man and a woman meet in a world of leisure, gardens, and polished conversation. Their courtship turns on a gentle but absorbing question: can they understand one another when good manners make it so easy to hide what they feel?
This romantic comedy of manners finds its fun in talk, flirtation, and the secrets that keep affection from speaking plainly. Harland’s graceful, conversational style gives the story its warmth. The pace is leisurely, the humour affectionate, and the Italian lakes offer a sunny setting for love’s small uncertainties.
What you’ll discover
- A lakeside escape Step among villas and gardens where leisure leaves room for conversation, courtship, and possibility.
- The pleasures of courtship Follow a man and woman as they try to understand each other through good manners.
- Secrets with a spark Enjoy the comic uncertainty of feelings hidden beneath polite words and well-bred conversation.
- Wit without a sting Find affectionate humour in the ways people talk, flirt, and conceal what matters.
- A graceful conversational voice Savour Harland’s neat phrases and light touch in a romance that prefers smiles to sermons.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy bright dialogue, sunlit Italian scenery, gentle matchmaking and kindly humor about faith and class. Think of Jane Austen's wit moved to a lake.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A coffee under the willow starts everything
- Marietta knows everything and explains nothing
- Sparrows, finches and a rescued little pig
- A novel nobody reads and two children on the road
- The Cardinal arrives with a plan and the rain
- The story of Pauline, told with the names changed
- A dinner, a bold Irishwoman and a cold reception
- Marietta falls ill and the Cardinal gives a lesson
- Wit as a mask for feeling
- Faith, rank and the quiet work of kindness
- How the story is told and what recurs
Who’s who
- Peter MarchdaleAn English novelist who writes as Felix Wildmay, he rents Villa Floriano and hopes to win the woman he has secretly adored for years.
- Beatrice, Duchessa di SantangioloA rich, quick-witted English-born widow who owns the castle next door and wants to be told the truth by a man who hides it.
- Cardinal UdeschiniThe Duchessa's gentle, joking uncle by marriage, a snuff-taking churchman who loves the poor and arranges small accidents for his niece.
- Marietta CignolesiPeter's brown, fierce little housekeeper, called a witch by the village, who wants him fed, safe and correct in his religion.
- Emilia ManfrediThe late duke's young daughter, taken in by the Duchessa, who dreams of becoming a Sister of Mercy.
- Mrs. O'Donovan FlorenceA lively Irish friend of the Duchessa who sees at once what both lovers hide and wants to push them together.
Formats and delivery
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- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Cardinal's Snuff-Box
by Henry Harland · 1900
A novelist hides behind a friend's name while the duchess next door reads his book and asks about its author.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
A man sits under a willow by a green river, sipping coffee and quoting poetry, when a woman's voice calls from the far bank. She asks, in perfect English, whether the view is too much like a stage set.
The Cardinal's Snuff-Box at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 25 min2 h 40 min fast, 4 h slow
- Length
- 48,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1900by Henry Harland
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A coffee under the willow starts everything
The story opens at Villa Floriano, beside the narrow river Aco. Old Marietta, the housekeeper, asks if the Signorino would like coffee in the garden. Peter sits at a rustic table and admires the vineyards, white villas and snowy peaks.
Then a woman speaks in English from the other bank. She is tall, dressed in white, with hair that sparkles like threads of glass. Peter's heart jumps, stops and races. His wits scatter, so an automatic second self answers for him and calls the scenery only Nature, unaided. She teases him with polite eyebrows, names him Mr. Marchdale and says she is his landlady.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1900
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Harland, Henry. The Cardinal's Snuff-Box. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-cardinals-snuff-box.
Harland, H. (2026). The cardinal's snuff-box. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-cardinals-snuff-box (Original work published 1900)
Harland, Henry. The Cardinal's Snuff-Box. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-cardinals-snuff-box.
@book{harland2026cardinals,
author = {Harland, Henry},
title = {The Cardinal's Snuff-Box},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-cardinals-snuff-box},
note = {First published 1900}
}
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What is The Cardinal's Snuff-Box about?
It follows Peter Marchdale, an English novelist who rents a villa next to a castle owned by a young duchess. He secretly loves her and tries to win her without revealing how well he knows her.
Who is Felix Wildmay in The Cardinal's Snuff-Box?
Felix Wildmay is the pen name of Peter Marchdale, the hero. Peter pretends Wildmay is an old friend, and the novel A Man of Words is the book that holds his secret.
Where is The Cardinal's Snuff-Box set?
The story takes place in a lakeside Italian valley near Bergamo and Milan. It includes a rented villa, a river called the Aco, the castle of Ventirose, a village, and a view of the snowy peak Monte Sfiorito.
The author
Henry Harland
1861–1905 · American novelist and editor
Henry Harland was an American novelist and editor, born in 1861. He lived in New York before moving to London in 1889. He edited the literary magazine The Yellow Book from 1894 to 1897. His novel The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box appeared in 1900. He died in San Remo, Italy, in 1905.
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