The Reluctant Courtesan (Paperback)

The story opens with Anna being seduced by CaaZanonias heir, Marco, son of Carlo Zanoni. When she becomes pregnant, he rejects heranobles do not marry below their station. Four years after the birth of her son, she discovers by chance that her own mother had been a famous courtesan. Suddenly, she can again see the face of her mother that eluded her until then and recalls seeing her portrait in the study of CaaZanoni. Did that imply that Carlo Zanoni had been her motheras patron? Was he then her father? If so, had she born a son to her half-brother? To learn the truth, she contacts the painter of that portrait. In a deal, he paints Anna in the nude while telling her about her mother. She reluctantly becomes a courtesan and engages in a dangerous and cunning scheme to trap Carlo Zanoni into revealing the truth.