71 Love Comes West Read online

  “Nothing is important except you,” he sighed, “and I think, my darling, that is what love means.”

  “You – really – love me?”

  It was impossible to prevent the tears from running down her cheeks because she was so happy.

  Adam wiped them away and, as he did so, she realised that everybody had left the study except for Mr. Garson and Danny who were still searching in the safe to make quite certain that nothing was missing.

  “I love you!” Adam said. “And it is going to take a lifetime to tell you how much!”

  “Did your father really mean you could go on with your painting here?”

  “He said that he had no intention of losing you.”

  “I am glad, but you know that nothing matters but you!”

  There was no need for words. Adam pulled her closer to him and she felt as if she had come home.

  She was his, as he was hers, and there was no need for words.

  Mr. Garson rose to his feet to say,

  “This safe is obviously useless! Tomorrow I will order one that no burglar will be able to open without dynamite!”

  “If Uncle Adam hadn’t prevented him, he might have got away with the plans!” Danny said.

  “It is something that must not happen again. You and I will see to that!”

  “Yes, we must see to that,” Danny agreed in a serious little voice.

  Roberta smiled at them and Mr. Garson said to her,

  “Do you really intend to marry my son?”

  Roberta gave a little laugh.

  “He said he could not marry me because he had dedicated his life to painting, but he has changed his mind.”

  “I should have thought that perhaps Lady Roberta Worth was too grand to tie herself up with an impecunious Impressionist!”

  “How did you find out who I am?” Roberta asked in surprise.

  “My Bank Manager told me,” Mr. Garson answered. “He is very impressed at having such a distinguished new client!”

  Roberta laughed.

  Then she realised that Adam was looking at her in astonishment.

  “Are you telling me that you are not Mrs. Boscombe?” he asked.

  Then, as she blushed, looked embarrassed, and held up her hand, he could see that there was no wedding ring on her finger.

  “I was so afraid that somebody might take Danny away from me,” she explained, “that I – pretended to be his – mother.”

  Adam stared at her.

  “How old are you?”

  “I am nineteen.”

  “I knew it!” he exclaimed. “And how many more lies did you tell me?”

  Roberta looked nervously at Mr. Garson.

  “That was all,” she replied. “It was simply that I was terrified that Danny, who had been adopted by my aunt before she died, would be taken away and put into an orphanage.”

  The word frightened Danny who jumped up from the floor.

  “Now they know about me, I won’t have to go into an orphanage, will I, Aunt Roberta?” he pleaded.

  There was no doubt that the idea still petrified him and Mr. Garson said quickly,

  “If there is any trouble of that sort, I will adopt you myself.”

  “I think that is a very good idea, Father,” Adam said. “I am sure that Danny will make up for all my deficiencies and certainly will drive an engine far better than I should ever be able to do.”

  Danny caught hold of Mr. Garson’s hand.

  “If you adopt me,” he said, “you’ll be my Daddy and I would like that. I love you, I love Uncle Adam and I love Aunt Roberta very much! That would make us all a family, wouldn’t it?”

  Roberta knew it was what was in his heart, although he had never said so.

  It was what he must have always wanted, to be part of a family, to be safe and free from the fear of being sent away to some strange place that was called an orphanage or left alone and unwanted.

  “You are quite right,” Mr. Garson answered. “We will be a family and doubtless in the future you will be able to help me look after my grandchildren!”

  There was a smile on his lips as he spoke and, as he looked at Roberta she blushed and pressed her cheek against Adam’s shoulders.

  “What we are going to do now,” Mr. Garson said briskly, “is to celebrate. My son has come home, the plans have been saved and personally I not only need a strong drink but also something to eat. Danny and I will go and tell the servants to bring what we want into the dining room.”

  He walked away with Danny holding onto his hand.

  Then Roberta guessed that he deliberately closed the door, shutting them both in alone.

  Adam put his arms around her.

  Then he said,

  “Lady Roberta Worth, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

  “I was so afraid you would never ask me!” Roberta said in a voice that was meant to be filled with laughter but was somehow a sob.

  “Darling, how could you have thought for one moment that, having found you, I could ever lose you again?”

  He kissed her hair before he added,

  “And how could you have deceived me as you did, by pretending to be a married woman, although I knew when I kissed you how young, inexperienced and innocent you were?”

  He turned her face up to his as he asked fiercely,

  “It is true, is it not? There has never been another man in your life?”

  “Of course there has not!” Roberta whispered. “Oh, Adam, I love you so much. Can we really be – married?”

  “We will be married tonight or rather this morning,” Adam replied. “I am not waiting and to punish you for running away from me we are not going to have a grand wedding.”

  “As if I would want anything so stupid!” Roberta answered.

  The tears were running down her face, tears of joy because now she was with Adam again.

  The agony was over and the whole world seemed to be filled with the light that he painted in his pictures.

  Then she said,

  “You know nothing about me. I have so much to tell you.”

  “I know you love me,” Adam replied, “that is the only thing that matters.”

  Roberta gave a little sob and pressed herself against him.

  “Suppose,” she said in a very low voice, “I had not come to – America? My father suggested it when he was dying – but I might have gone back to England.”

  Adam held her so tightly that it was hard to breathe.

  “Thank God you did as he suggested, my beloved! If you had not obeyed him and come West I should have been lonely all my life because I had not found you.”

  Roberta tried to laugh.

  “You might have been quite happy just with painting. But I am here – and I love you.”

  “As I love and worship you.”

  She knew from the way he spoke that it was a vow.

  Then he was kissing her, kissing her wildly, possessively, passionately, but at the same time with a tenderness as if she was so infinitely precious that he was half-afraid of hurting her and still afraid of losing her.

  He kissed her until once again they were moving amongst the stars and their feet were no longer on the ground.

  He kissed her wet eyes, the tears from her cheeks and again her lips.

  “My darling, my lovely one!” he said. “I will never be able to tell you what an agony it was to think that I had lost you! I have been walking the streets of San Francisco for the last four days, hoping that by some miracle I would see you in the crowd and asking at every lodging house and hotel if they had given accommodation to a beautiful young woman with a little boy.”

  He gave a laugh that still held a note of pain in it, as if the agonies he had suffered were still very vivid.

  “I was late tonight by the time I had called at about twenty lodging houses. How could I have imagined when I came home to sleep that I would find you here in my father’s house?”

  “Why did you not tell me that your f
ather was such an important rich man?”

  “We quarrelled violently because he wanted me to work with him on the railroad and in particular on his plans for the fastest train in the world. He could not understand that I had to paint, that nothing else interested me. I told him I could keep myself without any help from him.”

  “I know now that the reason he was so kind to Danny – was that he was missing you.”

  “Just as I missed him. I think, my precious one, it must have been you who softened him and made him so much more amenable and understanding than he has ever been before.”

  “Not me, but Danny!” Roberta corrected. “A little boy who thinks him wonderful and who is as obsessed as he is with the idea of the fastest train in the world!”

  Adam laughed.

  “He will be able to help my father and I will build myself the finest studio here that any artist ever had and, when we want to be alone, which will be very often, we will go back to the sea.”

  “I would love that,” Roberta sighed. “I was happier with you there than I have ever been in my life.”

  “We will be there together,” Adam said, “and there will be no more lonely nights for me or for you, my darling.”

  Roberta gave a little murmur of happiness and he added,

  “And I shall enjoy teaching our children to swim.”

  He spoke deliberately to see the colour come into her face.

  Then he laughed.

  “A young girl of nineteen!” he exclaimed. “How could I have been so blind, so foolish as to believe your story that you were married?”

  His lips were very near to hers as he continued,

  “By the time this day ends there will be no need for you to pretend to be a married woman, my precious, you will be one!”

  As Roberta hid her blushes against his shoulder, he went on,

  “There is so much I want to teach you, so much love I have to give you and I believe that together, my beautiful wife-to-be, we will find the light that I have been struggling to capture on canvas.”

  “The light of love,” Roberta whispered, “and love is happiness. How could anything be more wonderful? Oh, Adam, we are so lucky!”

  “I adore you!”

  Then he was kissing her again and the light of the rising sun came through the window to touch them with gold and the light within them made them one being for all Eternity.

  OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

  The Barbara Cartland Eternal Collection is the unique opportunity to collect as ebooks all five hundred of the timeless beautiful romantic novels written by the world’s most celebrated and enduring romantic author.

  Named the Eternal Collection because Barbara’s inspiring stories of pure love, just the same as love itself, the books will be published on the internet at the rate of four titles per month until all five hundred are available.

  The Eternal Collection, classic pure romance available worldwide for all time .

  Elizabethan Lover

  The Little Pretender

  A Ghost in Monte Carlo

  A Duel of Hearts

  The Saint and the Sinner

  The Penniless Peer

  The Proud Princess

  The Dare-Devil Duke

  Diona and a Dalmatian

  A Shaft of Sunlight

  Lies for Love

  Love and Lucia

  Love and the Loathsome Leopard

  Beauty or Brains

  The Temptation of Torilla

  The Goddess and the Gaiety Girl

  Fragrant Flower

  Look Listen and Love

  The Duke and the Preacher’s Daughter

  A Kiss for the King

  The Mysterious Maid-servant

  Lucky Logan Finds Love

  The Wings of Ecstacy

  Mission to Monte Carlo

  Revenge of the Heart

  The Unbreakable Spell

  Never Laugh at Love

  Bride to a Brigand

  Lucifer and the Angel

  Journey to a Star

  Solita and the Spies

  The Chieftain Without a Heart

  No Escape from Love

  Dollars for the duke

  Pure and Untouched

  Secrets

  Fire in the Blood

  Love, Lies and Marriage

  The Ghost who Fell in Love

  Hungry for Love

  The Wild Cry of Love

  The Blue-eyed Witch

  The Punishment of a Vixen

  The Secret of the Glen

  Bride to the King

  For All Eternity

  King in Love

  A Marriage made in Heaven

  Who can deny Love?

  Riding to the Moon

  Wish for Love

  Dancing on a Rainbow

  Gypsy Magic

  Love in the Clouds

  Count the Stars

  White Lilac

  Too Precious to Lose

  The Devil Defeated

  An Angel Runs Away

  The Duchess Disappeared

  The Pretty Horse-breakers

  The Prisoner of Love

  Ola and the Sea Wolf

  The Castle made for Love

  A Heart is Stolen

  The Love Pirate

  As Eagles Fly

  The Magic of Love

  Love Leaves at Midnight

  A Witch’s Spell

  Love Comes West

  The Impetuous Duchess

  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 romance 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 Comes West

  Barbara Cartland

  Barbara Cartland Ebooks Ltd

  This edition © 2013

  Copyright Cartland Promotions 1953

  eBook conversion by M-Y Books