104. A Heart Finds Love Read online

  A Heart Finds Love

  BARBARA CARTLAND

  www.barbaracartland.com

  Copyright © 2013 by Cartland Promotions

  First published on the internet in May 2013 by Barbaracartland.com

  ISBNs

  978-1-78213-395-7 Epub

  978-1-78213-396-4 Prc

  The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval, without the prior permission in writing from the publisher.

  eBook conversion by M-Y Books

  A Heart Finds Love

  They galloped along so fast that it was impossible to speak even though the Duke was beside her.

  Later the moon faded and the stars went out one by one. Then the first light of the rising sun appeared behind them in the East.

  Of course they were riding much faster and nonstop than they had in the Prince’s carriage from Batum and it was not more than an hour or so later that they saw the Port just ahead of them.

  ‘We have done it!’ Alnina wanted to cry.

  But it was just impossible to speak and difficult to breathe considering the pace they had been galloping.

  At the same time because the Duke was saved, she wanted to cry out with joy, but she could only say a prayer in her heart.

  ‘Thank you, God. Thank you.’

  She had saved him.

  Even as she thought about it, she knew then that she loved him.

  THE BARBARA CARTLAND PINK COLLECTION

  Barbara Cartland was the most prolific bestselling author in the history of the world. She was frequently in the Guinness Book of Records for writing more books in a year than any other living author. In fact her most amazing literary feat was when her publishers asked for more Barbara Cartland romances, she doubled her output from 10 books a year to over 20 books a year, when she was 77.

  She went on writing continuously at this rate for 20 years and wrote her last book at the age of 97, thus completing 400 books between the ages of 77 and 97.

  Her publishers finally could not keep up with this phenomenal output, so at her death she left 160 unpublished manuscripts, something again that no other author has ever achieved.

  Now the exciting news is that these 160 original unpublished Barbara Cartland books are ready for publication and they will be published by Barbaracartland.com exclusively on the internet, as the web is the best possible way to reach so many Barbara Cartland readers around the world.

  The 160 books will be published monthly and will be numbered in sequence.

  The series is called the Pink Collection as a tribute to Barbara Cartland whose favourite colour was pink and it became very much her trademark over the years.

  The Barbara Cartland Pink Collection is published only on the internet. Log on to www.barbaracartland.com to find out how you can purchase the books monthly as they are published, and take out a subscription that will ensure that all subsequent editions are delivered to you by mail order to your home.

  If you do not have access to a computer you can write for information about the Pink Collection to the following address :

  BarbaraCartland.com

  Camfield Place

  Hatfield

  Hertfordshire

  AL9 6JE

  United Kingdom

  Telephone: +44 1707 642629

  Fax: +44 1707 663041

  Titles in this series

  These titles are currently available for download. For more information please see the Where to buy page at the end of this book.

  The Cross Of Love

  Love In The Highlands

  Love Finds The Way

  The Castle Of Love

  Love Is Triumphant

  Stars In The Sky

  The Ship Of Love

  A Dangerous Disguise

  Love Became Theirs

  Love Drives In

  Sailing To Love

  The Star Of Love

  Music Is The Soul Of Love

  Love In The East

  Theirs To Eternity

  A Paradise On Earth

  Love Wins In Berlin

  In Search Of Love

  Love Rescues Rosanna

  A Heart In Heaven

  The House Of Happiness

  Royalty Defeated By Love

  The White Witch

  They Sought Love

  Love Is The Reason For Living

  They Found Their Way To Heaven

  Learning To Love

  Journey To Happiness

  A Kiss In The Desert

  The Heart Of Love

  The Richness Of Love

  For Ever And Ever

  An Unexpected Love

  Saved By An Angel

  Touching The Stars

  Seeking Love

  Journey To Love

  The Importance Of Love

  Love By The Lake

  A Dream Come True

  The King Without A Heart

  The Waters Of Love

  Danger To The Duke

  A Perfect Way To Heaven

  Follow Your Heart

  In Hiding

  Rivals For Love

  A Kiss From The Heart

  Lovers In London

  This Way To Heaven

  A Princess Prays

  Mine For Ever

  The Earl’s Revenge

  Love At The Tower

  Ruled By Love

  Love Came From Heaven

  Love And Apollo

  The Keys Of Love

  A Castle Of Dreams

  A Battle Of Brains

  A Change Of Hearts

  It Is Love

  The Triumph Of Love

  Wanted – A Royal Wife

  A Kiss Of Love

  To Heaven With Love

  Pray For Love

  The Marquis Is Trapped

  Hide And Seek For Love

  Hiding from Love

  A Teacher Of Love

  Money Or Love

  The Revelation Is Love

  The Tree Of Love

  The Magnificent Marquis

  The Castle

  The Gates of Paradise

  A Lucky Star

  A Heaven on Earth

  The Healing Hand

  A Virgin Bride

  The Trail to Love

  A Royal Love Match

  A Steeplechase for Love

  Love at Last

  Search for a Wife

  Secret Love

  A Miracle of Love

  Love and the Clans

  A Shooting Star

  The Winning Post is Love

  They Touched Heaven

  The Mountain of Love

  The Queen Wins

  Love and the Gods

  Joined by Love

  The Duke is Deceived

  A Prayer For Love

  Love Conquers War

  A Rose in Jeopardy

  A Call of Love

  A Flight to Heaven

  She Wanted Love

  A Heart Finds Love

  THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND

  Barbara Cartland, who sadly died in May 2000 at the grand age of ninety eight, remains one of the world’s most famous romantic novelists. With worldwide sales of over one billion, her outstanding 723 books have been translated into thirty six different languages, to be enjoyed by readers of roman
ce globally.

  Writing her first book ‘Jigsaw’ at the age of 21, Barbara became an immediate bestseller. Building upon this initial success, she wrote continuously throughout her life, producing bestsellers for an astonishing 76 years. In addition to Barbara Cartland’s legion of fans in the UK and across Europe, her books have always been immensely popular in the USA. In 1976 she achieved the unprecedented feat of having books at numbers 1 & 2 in the prestigious B. Dalton Bookseller bestsellers list.

  Although she is often referred to as the ‘Queen of Romance’, Barbara Cartland also wrote several historical biographies, six autobiographies and numerous theatrical plays as well as books on life, love, health and cookery. Becoming one of Britain's most popular media personalities and dressed in her trademark pink, Barbara spoke on radio and television about social and political issues, as well as making many public appearances.

  In 1991 she became a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to literature and her work for humanitarian and charitable causes.

  Known for her glamour, style, and vitality Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime. Best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels and loved by millions of readers worldwide, her books remain treasured for their heroic heroes, plucky heroines and traditional values. But above all, it was Barbara Cartland’s overriding belief in the positive power of love to help, heal and improve the quality of life for everyone that made her truly unique.

  “Love is like a rock – it endures for ever”

  Barbara Cartland

  CHAPTER ONE

  1880

  Alnina looked round the room trying to see if there was anything else she could sell.

  She had already sold everything of value that she could find in the house, but there were still a large number of debts outstanding.

  Her brother, Charles, had been bankrupt, although no one had been aware of it when he died.

  Now she was left to save what she could of a home that had been her father’s delight and joy and his father’s and grandfather’s before him.

  Lord Lester had been, when he was a young man, very keen on travelling and as a result there were a great number of treasures in the house that he had brought from different parts of the world.

  Alnina found that these had sold well and fetched much more than she anticipated.

  Charles, the last of the Lester male line, as far as she knew, had been a wild spender ever since he came into the title and, because he was so handsome, he was a great success socially.

  But what he really enjoyed was going off to Paris and spending a lot of money on the attractive women who had become famous all over Europe.

  Alnina had at that time been at school and therefore was not aware of what her brother was doing.

  Their father had always encouraged his children to learn languages and to be Cosmopolitan as well as English.

  So she had stayed on an extra year at her school in Holland when she should have left, because she was very keen on learning more languages than she already knew.

  Alnina had had a terrible shock when she arrived back in England.

  She had learnt that her brother had fought a duel in Paris in which he was badly wounded and had died three days later.

  As she had been away from home for so long, she had no idea where their other relations were or even if they had any nor did she want to seek them out and ask them to help her.

  Instead she sent for her brother’s Solicitor and then, to her horror, she learnt of the enormous amount of debts he had run up in the last five years since he had become Lord Lester.

  “I will have to sell everything I can to meet these debts,” she said to Mr. Burns the Solicitor.

  “I am afraid, Miss Alnina,” he then replied, “that your brother’s creditors did not want to wait and were on the point, before his Lordship went abroad, of bringing a Court case against him.”

  “I hope they will not do that to me,” Alnina asked.

  “I can prevent them doing so,” Mr. Burns said, “but only if you can pay them back bit by bit all that is owed.”

  “I will certainly do my best,” she answered, “but, as you know, a large house without many acres attached to it is not particularly interesting. We are unfortunately fairly near to London and I think people who are really social want either to be in London or much farther out in the country.”

  Mr. Burns knew that this was true, but he was well aware that there had been no offers for the house since it had been put on the market.

  Because he was a kind man and had known Alnina since she was a little girl, he had shown her how to sell the very best furniture at Christie’s auction rooms in London.

  He had also sent quite a number of his clients down to the house to see if there was anything they wanted to buy.

  ‘At least,’ Alnina thought to herself, ‘every creditor has been given some money, but there is still such a large amount outstanding, so there must be something more that I can sell.’

  But all the silver had already gone, as well as her mother’s jewels.

  She had already sold all the pictures that were of any value. And one or two of them proved to be valuable enough to keep most of the creditors at bay.

  Now, having looked around the rooms that seemed extraordinarily empty, she walked up the stairs and into her mother’s bedroom.

  She had felt it was almost sacrilege to sell any of her mother’s clothes. She wanted to wear them herself, but they were in some ways too old-fashioned for her.

  Anyway, it was most unlikely than anyone would want to buy ball dresses that were out of date.

  Her day clothes she knew would go for very small sums to the village women who would find them useful, but she was determined not to empty her mother’s room completely until the very last moment.

  Her dearest Mama had died when she was fifteen and she had loved her dearly.

  She had been extremely fond of her father and, although she wanted to love her brother, she had seen very little of him.

  He was always enjoying himself either in London or on the Continent and it was terrible to think that it was his passion for Paris that had ended in his losing his life.

  ‘I am only so glad,’ she thought as she entered her mother’s bedroom, ‘that Mama is not alive to know that Charles died in such a horrible way.’

  Now, as she looked round the room, she thought that she would have to part with the mirror on the dressing table. It was one she had loved ever since she had been tiny.

  The gilt-wood was ornamented with little cupids climbing up the sides and at the very top was a carved bird with outstretched wings.

  Alnina could remember counting the cupids when she was just old enough to be able to do so. Then she had asked her mother where the bird was flying to.

  “Up into the sky among the stars,” her mother had said. “He is a bird and that signifies what we feel when we learn something very exciting and we lift up our hearts to Heaven.”

  She had not understood at the time what her mother was saying, but now, as she looked at the little bird, she thought it was something she must try to do.

  It was no use to sit too gloomily in the house which was being stripped of everything that was beautiful.

  She realised that the gilt mirror would fetch some money as it was antique and so would the beautiful French secretaire that stood in one corner of the bedroom.

  Then, as she hated to part with them, she quickly opened the wardrobe, wondering what was left inside.

  The first thing she saw at the back of it, under a white linen cover, was her mother’s wedding dress.

  It had always been the most fascinating dress and she could remember it ever since she was very small.

  Because Lord Lester had enjoyed travelling, he had bought his wife’s wedding dress on a journey he had taken while they were still engaged.

  It was indeed the most unusual wedding dress that Alnina had ever seen. She had forgotten about it until now, but
was sure that it would sell for a large sum.

  The whole dress was decorated with the wonderful embroidery that only the Chinese could do so well and it was always believed to have been done by small boys who should really have been at school.

  But to make it really spectacular, Lord Lester had ordered diamante and pink stones to add to the embroidery.

  This gave it the appearance of bunches of flowers, while the bodice glittered, Alnina had always thought, as if worn by a fairy.

  She took it out of the cupboard and removed the white covering and then she hung it up so that she could look at it carefully.

  It must have taken years to complete and was in a perfect condition as it had only been worn once.

  ‘I will certainly sell it,’ she now thought, ‘and ask a sum that should substantially reduce my debts to Charles’s creditors.’

  She could imagine some woman being delighted to wear it at her wedding or it would certainly enhance any museum or even perhaps be worn on the stage.

  After looking at it for some time, Alnina sat down at the secretaire.

  She wrote a description of the gown to be put in an advertisement and she felt certain that the way she had worded it would attract someone who was interested in anything unusual.

  She was sure that there was no other wedding dress in England that could compete with this one.

  ‘It must have cost Papa a fortune,’ she mused.

  He, in a way, was very much like Charles and, if he wanted something, he bought it regardless of whether he could afford it or not.

  She could not help wishing that they had both been a little more sensible, as now she had to spend her time selling everything she had loved ever since she was small.

  When she had finished writing the advertisement, she went downstairs.

  She then found Brooks, the butler, as she still called him, who with his wife had come to the house many years before her father’s death and then there had been a great number of servants.

  Brooks had looked after Charles and with no other help unless he was giving a party.

  It was typical of her brother, Alnina thought, when he had come home from White’s Club, having lost money at the card tables, immediately to throw a large party, but she thought the noise and laughter made him forget that he was a loser.