Christian Dottorini

In 1840, a young Russian aristocrat, Dimitri Sanin, is returning home after a long tour of Europe. In Germany, he falls in love with a beautiful pastry shop girl, Gemma Rosselli, who soon starts sharing his feelings. They decide to get married and, in order to finance the wedding, Dimitri goes back to Russia to sell his family estate. Unfortunately he falls prey to a seductress, Princess Maria Nikolaevna, who pretends to be willing to buy his land to come nearer him. Now Sanin is in a fix: should he choose the pure Gemma or the evil but irresistible Maria?

The stories revolve around the investigations of Valentina Rosselli, and the intrigues in which she gets involved because of her curiosity and her wonderful physical appearance. In the Shareholders She is often assisted by the antiquarian Philip Rembrandt, with whom she shares an ambiguous relationship.