His Last Duchess

When 16-year-old Lucrezia de Medici marries the fifth Duke of Ferrara,
Alfonso d'Este, she imagines married life with her handsome husband will
be idyllic. But little does she know that he is a very complicated man.
The marriage is fraught with difficulties from the start and eventually
Lucrezia decides to seek solace elsewhere. For Alfonso, the pressure
mounts, for the Vatican is threatening to reclaim his title, should he
and Lucrezia remain unable to produce an heir. He grows to resent his
duchess and begins to plot an unthinkable way to escape his problems.

• author: Gabrielle Kimm