And The Devil Makes Three

About the Book

After finishing his education in England, Rafe (Raphael) Pellegrino comes home to Tuscany where he is expected to take over the family winery. Restless, he resents the mantle of tradition and responsibility his father places upon him. Aldo, his boyhood friend and the caretaker's son tries to smooth conflicts.

Carlo Massine has grown up in grinding poverty. After hearing tales in his village of the prosperity to be found in America, he is determined to go. He finds a job on the docks in Naples to earn money for his passage.

Lydia Barba, a young girl, is tired of the unhappiness in her home. Her father is a dreamer, a gambler and a drinker. Her mother is a bitter woman trying to make ends meet.  One evening, in a drunken state, her father stumbles into Lydia's bedroom and believing her to be his wife, forces himself upon her. Lydia's mother tries to convince her it was all a mistake, but Lydia feeling ravaged and violated, runs away.

In an effort to please his son, Louie Pellegrino agrees to buy a motor car. Rafe talks his parents and his friend Aldo into a motor trip to Naples.  Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker, disguised as a boy. Rafe suspects that the hiker is a girl and something about her makes a deep impression.

When they arrive in Naples, the hiker jumps out. Rafe fails to see a pedestrian in the street until too late. He loses control of the car and crashes.

Carlo, who was the cause of the accident, pulls the driver from the car and leaves him on the street. Terrified he'll be blamed for the crash, he asks for help from Don Salvatore Bartoli, a "man of respect".

On board ship, Carlo befriends Lydia who has booked passage to America. In the new country Lydia comes to depend on Carlo and finally agrees to marry him.  His abuse and demands turn the marriage into a nightmare. She is soon pregnant and gives birth to a daughter, Iris.

Rafe spends months recovering from the accident.  With both parents and Aldo dead, he has no desire to remain in Italy. Through the family attorney, however, he discovers Aldo is alive.  After months of futile searching, he leaves for America.

In New York City, Carlo works as a barber in a shop on Wall Street.  He convinces Lydia that she must work also and so she does, in a garment sweat shop until her pregnancy becomes uncomfortable. Lydia finds comfort in the company of an older woman, Anna Panetta.

Rafe finds himself wealthy and at loose ends. He looks into the Stock Exchange and the banking industry only to find a close-knit WASP environment that has closed ranks against foreigners.

Patronizing the barber shop, he is recognized by Carlo who remains silent. Carlo, guessing at Rafe's affluence, seeks the advantage of a friendship and leads Rafe to opportunities in Little Italy.

About the same time, Don Bartoli comes to the states and pays Carlo a visit, a reminder that sometime in the future, Carlo will be expected to repay the favor.

Rafe investigates Little Italy. After a meeting with the president of a Polish-Jewish bank, Sender Marszalek, he sets out to open a bank of his own.

He strikes up a friendship with Pietro and Yolanda Tallini, owners of a small grocery and heeds their advice in picking five men required by state law to open a bank.  One of them is Salvatore Bartoli. Rafe and Bartoli taker and instant dislike to each other.

Carlo, who has run into debt with Bartoli, is taken in as a runner for the mob, Bartoli's crime organization. Hr brags of his association with Rafe who is now the president of the Milano-American Trust Co.

Lydia recognizes a chestnut vendor as Aldo, Rafe's friend. She listens to his story and discovers Aldo is looking for Rafe.

At the grand opening of the bank, Lydia is surprised to see it's Rafe and knows she must tell him about Aldo. At the same opening, Carlo makes a public showing of his supposed friendship with Rafe. He finds out that Rafe and Bartoli know each other and he is puzzled by th

About the Author

Terry Milton was born and raised in Brooklyn of Italian parents and steeped in Italian culture. After completing her education, she worked in various publishing companies and newspapers and at various jobs as reporter, county editor, features editor for the local papers. She also free-lanced as a writer for craft magazines until settling in New Hampshire where she worked her way up to become the first woman new editor for the Daily Democrat. It was there she began writing "Sunny Side Up", a humorous column. Now retired with her husband in Texas, at age 70 she has completed her first novel and continues to write her column.