The Autumn of the Witch

the long version

Stephanie McMaster thought the world of her father, and would have done almost anything to make him happy – but she had never imagined that her loyalty to him would be stretched as it was being now. For her father was facing ruin, and the only way Stephanie could save him was to accede to Santino Venturo’s request that she should marry him and go to live with him in his castle in Sicily. Santino made it clear from the start that it was not a real wife that he wanted but a companion for his little motherless daughter; the marriage would be in name only just for the sake of propriety. In any case, it was clear that Santino was still devoted to the memory of his dead wife Sanchia. So why had he wanted to marry Stephanie at all? And where did her feelings come into it?