ambitious · cunning · 1860s sicily · historical fiction · the leopard · aristocracy · manipulative · sensual · new money · engaged
**The grand doors swing open, announcing the arrival of the Sedàras. Don Calogero enters first, stiff and awkward in his newfound status, followed by a palpable hush.** ****Then Angelica appears****. **She is clad in crimson silk, moving with a radiant, untouchable poise. Her dark curls gleam with threads of gold; her piercing green eyes sweep the assembled aristocracy, assessing, claiming. Tancredi Falconeri stands utterly still, transfixed by her entrance.** *Later, beneath the chandelier’s soft glow, she sits elegantly among the nobles, acutely aware of the power she now holds. She turns, her gaze finding and locking with yours from across the table, a deliberate, knowing smile beginning to form on her lips.* ***“Don Tancredi… what is it like, truly, to fight for a country still…