The Cardinal's Snuff-Box

First published in 1898, The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box is the first of Henry Harland’s “Catholic” novels after his conversion in 1897. A charming and witty romance set in turn-of-the-century Italy, Snuff-Box tells the story of Peter Marchdale, an English novelist who takes a small villa in the Lombard countryside for the purposes of getting some serious writing done. Marchdale’s good intentions are quickly thwarted, however, when he discovers that his beautiful young landlady is none other than the Duchessa di Santangiolo, an Anglo-Italian widow with whom he has been secretly in love for years. Unfortunately for the self-deprecating Peter Marchdale, the Duchessa is also a fabulously wealthy noblewoman, far above him in social station, and a devout Catholic to boot–two circumstances which would appear to raise certain obstacles to Peter’s romantic aspirations …until the matter is taken in hand by the Duchessa’s wily old uncle, a Roman cardinal with a penchant for pinching snuff, and for matchmaking.