The Cardinal's Mistress

In 1909 Benito Mussolini, then in his twenty-sixth year, was working in Trent (at that time part of Austria) as secretary to the Socialist Chamber of Labor, or trade union headquarters. He received a salary of 24 a month, which he supplemented by giving French lessons. His work as secretary included his services as assistant to Cesare Battisti in editing Il Popolo, organ of the patriotic wing of the local Italian Socialists, and its weekly supplement, La Vita Trentina. One of his editorial duties was to write the weekly feuilleton for the supplement. Among his contributions under this head was a serial, "Claudia Particella, l'Amante del Cardinale: Grande Romanzo dei Tempi del Cardinale Emanuel Madruzzo." It is this romance which is here offered for the first time in English. Additional: He was a better novelist than he was a military commander.