Taquisara

Taquisara by F. Marion Crawford is about the life of young Donna Veronica Serra as she handles the daunting responsibilities as head of her father's estate. Excerpt: «Where shall I sign my name?» Veronica Serra's thin, dark fingers rolled the old silver penholder nervously as she sat at one end of the long library table, looking up at the short, stout man who stood beside her. «Here, if you please, Excellency,» answered Lamberto Squarci, with an affable smile. His fingers were dark, too, but not thin, and they were smooth and dingy and very pointed, a fact which the young princess noticed with dislike, as he indicated the spot on the broad sheet of rough, hand-made paper, where he wished her to sign."