IF THIS BE VIRTUE

by Paula Batchelor ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 1956

From a model, convent raised young miss to a minx -- that is the career of Lisa Dorfay when she leaves the nuns of The Holy Angels for Elndorf and the Langerhof, the court of Karl Joseph, Grand Duke of Zalenheim. Unacknowledged daughter of Karl Joseph's current mistress, Madame Anna Piacelli, now pregnant, Lisa blunders through the delicate diplomacy surrounding Madame's position; arouses the interest of Marquis Courcigny and is bait for the wealthy Graf Ulrich von Brunnenbild; and falls besottedly in love with Karl Joseph. Abetted by Madame's shrewd sense of money and prestige, Lisa keeps her three prospects dangling; yearns for the power, in spite of the cost, she will have as Karl Joseph's mistress -- the wealth as wife of the Graf -- the excitement of Courcigny's passion; and, with all three within her grasp -- she makes off with a theater manager on his new project. A gay fling in a Graustarkian setting plays with morals as well as manners and slyly flirts with privileged royalty. Fluffy.

Pub Date: March 5, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1956

Categories: FICTION