5 h 55 minAudiobook7 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 enjoy it if you like quick, teasing dialogue, Italian summer scenery, gentle matchmaking, and a warm old cardinal who does his scheming with a pinch of snuff.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A tenant meets his landlady across the river
- Marietta explains who the Duchessa is
- Talk by the water becomes a courtship
- A novel that hides a secret
- A cardinal with a snuffbox joins the scheme
- A storm brings everyone into one kitchen
- Dinners, advice, and a decision to speak
- A cold welcome and a sickbed that mends hearts
- What the comedy says and how it is told
Who’s who
- Peter MarchdaleA witty young English novelist who writes as Felix Wildmay and falls in love with his landlady, yet fears to tell her.
- Beatrice, Duchessa di SantangioloA beautiful, devout, English-born widow who owns Castel Ventirose and enjoys a good argument with her new tenant.
- Cardinal UdeschiniHer kindly uncle by marriage, a humorous old cardinal who loves music and snuff and helps the young people along.
- MariettaPeter's fierce, talkative old Lombard housekeeper, said to be a witch, who cooks, scolds and watches over him.
- Emilia ManfrediThe Duke's young daughter, raised by Beatrice, who hopes to become a Sister of Mercy.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 5 h 55 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Cardinal's Snuff-Box
by Henry Harland · 1900
Peter finds his landlady is the woman he has loved from afar.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What do you do when the woman you have admired from afar turns up on the far bank of your river and says she is your landlady? That is the luck, or the trouble, of Peter Marchdale in this light comedy by Henry Harland.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A tenant meets his landlady across the river
Peter Marchdale, a young Englishman, arrives at Villa Floriano on the little river Aco in Lombardy. On his first evening he drinks coffee under a willow and admires the view of the lake and the snow peaks of Monte Sfiorito. Then a voice in English asks across the water whether it is a bad view.
The speaker is a tall woman in white, and the sight of her stops Peter's heart. He answers her teasing with clever replies, almost as if another self had taken over his tongue. She tells him she is his landlady and walks away toward the castle of Ventirose. Peter is left pale and thrilled, whispering that it is her, and that it is impossible luck.
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What is The Cardinal's Snuff-Box about?
It follows Peter Marchdale, an English novelist, who rents a villa in Lombardy and discovers that his landlady, a young duchess, is the woman he has admired for years. Her uncle, a cardinal, helps the pair along.
Who is Felix Wildmay in The Cardinal's Snuff-Box?
Felix Wildmay is the pen name of Peter Marchdale, who wrote the novel A Man of Words. Peter pretends to be only a friend of the author, and the Duchessa keeps asking about him.
Why is the snuffbox important in the story?
The silver snuffbox belongs to Cardinal Udeschini, who got it in a bargain with his niece. It keeps passing between the characters, and each return gives Peter a reason to visit the castle.
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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