A King In Love Read online

Page 3


  As she spoke, Zita remembered that Sophie disliked horses that were spirited and not very well bred.

  It was Zita who had inherited her grandmother’s horsemanship, which according to legend had made her acclaimed as an equestrienne, as well as a beauty, in her own country of Hungary.

  “I shall not be concerned with horses,” Sophie said in her prim little voice, “but with the people of Valdastien and I shall want them to respect and admire me. I know, Zita, that I shall make a very good Queen.”

  “I am sure you will, dearest,” Zita said impulsively, “but what is much more important than being Queen is being the wife of King Maximilian!”

  Sophie was silent for a moment.

  Then she said,

  “I don’t think Mama really approves of the King, but of course she wants me to have an important position. Otherwise I think she was considering my marrying the Margrave of Baden-Baden.”

  Her sister made a little grimace.

  “Oh, no, Sophie! He is so dull! The King never says anything one remembers after he has left or that really requires an answer after he has said it.”

  “I find him a nice man,” Sophie objected.

  As she spoke, Zita looked at her sister thoughtfully.

  From all she had heard, it would be impossible to describe King Maximilian as ‘a nice man’.

  It was not only the Professor who talked about him, but also Madame Goutier, who came to the Palace to give the two Princesses their French lessons.

  A Parisian from a good family who had married a citizen of Aldross and was now a widow, Madame had never lost her connection with the country of her birth.

  She paid regular visits to Paris, where she had innumerable relatives who told her all the gossip.

  Because Sophie found French a difficult language to learn, she never stayed to converse socially with Madame Goutier, but always hurried away as soon as the lesson was over, leaving Zita alone with the Frenchwoman.

  “Tell me the latest news from Paris, madame,” Zita would beg.

  Because she lived a lonely life, Madame Goutier was only too willing to respond.

  She told Zita about the Emperor and Empress, the gowns that Frederick Worth made not only for the aristocrats but also for the demi-monde, who were even more gorgeously clothed and jewelled than those who were entertained at the Tuileries Palace.

  From Madame Goutier Zita learnt of the world that was not supposed to be known, and certainly not discussed, by Royal Princesses.

  She heard of the wild extravagances of the women who used their beauty to lure men into throwing away fortunes just so that they could be seen with them and, because Zita was intelligent, it was not difficult for her to fill in what Madame Goutier left unsaid.

  Because the Emperor made no secret of his love affairs, Madame Goutier’s daughter wrote about him often, week by week, month by month.

  Prince Napoleon also flaunted his mistresses and Zita learnt that Baron Haussmann, who had rebuilt Paris, was seen unashamedly driving in his carriage with the young actress Francine Cellier.

  Too, she heard that the King of the Netherlands was infatuated with Madame Mustard and had spent an astronomical amount of money on her.

  Because Madame Goutier, like the Professor, chattered without thinking, she had not the slightest idea how much of what she said was stored away in her pupil’s mind.

  ‘If only I could see Paris,’ Zita said to herself.

  She thought that she would always have to be content with just dreaming about it, cataloguing what she was told into little compartments which she could draw out like books whenever she felt that the Palace was too dull and the Court too boring to be endured.

  Now, suddenly, almost like a meteor falling from the sky, the most handsome, the most dashing and certainly the most talked-about man in Paris, King Maximilian, was to be a guest at the Palace of Aldross.

  “I cannot believe it’s true!” Zita exclaimed again. “And, Sophie, if you marry him, it will be thrilling and exciting not only for you but for me. Promise me that you will sometimes ask me to stay with you in Valdastien, otherwise it will break my heart!”

  Zita spoke pleadingly, her voice deep with the intensity of her feelings.

  It was then that Sophie replied slowly in the same expressionless voice she always used,

  “No, Zita! I shall not invite you to stay with me in Valdastien or to come anywhere else with me. You are much too pretty!”

  Chapter Two

  How can you be so unfair, Mama?” Zita asked indignantly.

  The Grand Duchess was silent, as if she was choosing her words before she answered,

  “This is Sophie’s chance of a grand marriage, Zita, and I don’t want you to interfere or spoil it for her.”

  “Why should I do that?”

  The Grand Duchess did not answer the question.

  She only said,

  “I am not going to argue about it. You will stay upstairs and not take part in any of the festivities arranged for King Maximilian. If you disobey me, you will have to be sent away to stay with one of our relatives.”

  Zita was silent, knowing that if she sometimes found the Palace gloomy, it was nothing compared to the boredom and depression she had found with her aunts and cousins who lived in much more isolated parts of the country.

  Instead she rose from the chair beside her mother and went from the room, closing the door behind her with what was suspiciously like a slam.

  The Grand Duchess sighed.

  She had always found Zita difficult because she was like her father, while she thought Sophie, who was amenable, quiet and obedient, was exactly like herself.

  Because the Grand Duchess was English and a distant cousin of Queen Victoria, Zita had been speaking English while she was with her mother.

  Now, as she ran down the corridor towards her father’s rooms, she was thinking in her own language.

  She burst into his study and found him alone, as she had expected.

  She ran across the room to say angrily,

  “I cannot believe, Papa, that it is with your approval that I am not to come to the dinner given for King Maximilian or to the ball, in fact, I am not even to meet him while he is here!”

  The Grand Duke looked up from the newspaper he was reading and his eyes took in the fiery sparkle in Zita’s green eyes, the flush on her cheeks and the way her auburn red hair, after the haste in which she had run, seemed to be rising almost like flames over her well-shaped head.

  His eyes were soft and his voice very affectionate as he replied,

  “I am sorry, my dearest, I was afraid it would upset you.”

  “There, you did know!” Zita said accusingly. “Oh, Papa, how could you be so unkind?”

  The Grand Duke put out his hand and Zita took it to kneel down beside his chair and look up at him pleadingly.

  “You know how dull it has been here lately,” she said. “To dance with anybody would be exciting, but most of all with King Maximilian, whom I have always wanted to meet.”

  The Grand Duke’s fingers tightened on hers as he said,

  “I am afraid, my darling, that Sophie and your mother’s decision that you will not be presented to His Majesty is the penalty you must pay for being so beautiful.”

  Zita stared as if she could not believe what she had heard.

  Then she said quickly,

  “Oh, I know Sophie pretends she is jealous of me and Mama disapproves of the way I behave when I am with you, but surely what they feel is not serious enough to have me isolated in the schoolroom as if I was infectious!”

  The Grand Duke smiled, but his voice was sad as he said,

  “When I was told that this had been decided, I knew it would upset you. But really, dearest, there is nothing I can do about it.”

  “Why not?” Zita asked aggressively.

  “Because,” the Grand Duke explained patiently, “it is of great importance, as you will understand, that small countries like ours should unite togeth
er against the greed of Germany and, if King Maximilian should marry Sophie, it would mean that both our countries would be immeasurably stronger than we are at this moment.”

  As he spoke, he recognised that Zita would understand exactly what he was saying, because they had so often discussed the political problems of Europe.

  “I thought Germany had their eyes on Austria,” she remarked after a moment.

  “Austria first, then Bavaria, then perhaps us and after that why not France?”

  Zita drew in her breath.

  She knew that her father was not speaking lightly.

  It was what she had reasoned out anyway might happen if Bismarck put his ambitions into action rather than words.

  She laid her cheek against her father’s hand and said,

  “All the same, Papa, I would still like to come to the Court ball and, if you will allow me to attend, I shall promise not to dance with the King.”

  “But he might want to dance with you, my precious,” the Grand Duke answered, “and that is exactly what your mother and Sophie are afraid of.”

  Zita did not move, but, with her cheek still against her father’s hand, she was thinking that this was the first time any of the family had actually said that she was beautiful.

  However, she would have been very stupid if she had not been aware that she closely resembled her famous Hungarian grandmother.

  The former Grand Duchess had been acclaimed throughout the length and breadth of Europe and could, Zita had always been told, have made a far more significant marriage than accepting the hand of the Grand Duke of Aldross.

  “Your grandmama fell in love the moment she saw your grandfather,” the Grand Duke had explained to Zita when she was very small and they were looking at the large portrait of the former Grand Duchess, which hung in the Throne Room.

  Zita had replied almost without a pause,

  “If Grandpapa looked like you, Papa, then I am not surprised. He must have been very handsome.”

  “Thank you, my dearest,” the Grand Duke answered. “But I am glad to say that, although I resemble my father, I also have inherited many characteristics of my beautiful mother, especially her love of horses and her skill in riding the most spirited animals and I have been clever enough to create in you a replica of her.”

  It was perhaps because the Grand Duke had loved and admired his mother so much that he had adored his third child from the moment she was born.

  He already had a son, Henrich, and a daughter, Sophie, and he had hoped, although he had not said so, that the third baby would be another son.

  Yet as soon as he saw Zita he knew that somehow, in a way that he could not explain, she meant more to him than his two elder children.

  As Zita grew older and became alluringly pretty with her red hair and green eyes, he had spent more time in the nursery than he had ever done before.

  When she was eight, despite the protests of the Grand Duchess, he took her away with him on one of his trips into the mountains, which had always infuriated his wife, although she could do nothing about it.

  “I wish to get to know my people and the easiest way is to move amongst them,” the Grand Duke had said firmly.

  Dressed in short leather trousers, a green jacket and a Tyrolean hat, which was almost a uniform amongst the Aldross people, as it was amongst the Bavarians, the Grand Duke would go off alone.

  He would stay at small inns, drink the wine that was made in the local valleys and sing with his subjects the songs that they all knew and which somehow expressed better than words their thoughts and their emotions.

  The citizens of Aldross adored him because they thought that in consequence he understood their troubles and problems.

  That he had other reasons for making these occasional excursions into the mountains just made them smile and say that he was ‘very much a man’.

  To Zita it was the most exciting thing in the world to go away alone with her father and look after herself without being cosseted, scolded and interfered with by nurses, Governesses and of course her mother.

  She and her father would ride halfway up some mountain he wished to visit, then, having left their horses, they would climb through the pine woods and onto the barren rocks and walk until Zita’s legs ached.

  Although she tried not to complain, sometimes she found herself forced to confess that her small legs were tired.

  Then they would find a lake and the Grand Duke would suggest that she swim in the cold clear water until she felt rested and invigorated again.

  After the first trip with her father, Zita learnt to swim and on subsequent trips she swam like a small fish.

  But it was an achievement she never mentioned at the Palace, knowing how much her mother would disapprove of her swimming naked, even though there was nobody but her father to see her.

  Every year she and her father would go off somewhere together and nothing the Grand Duchess could say could prevent them from slipping away for perhaps a week or ten days.

  They would return brown from the sun in radiant good health and good spirits, but they had very little to say about where they had been and what they had done.

  It was when Zita was fifteen that the Grand Duchess had prevented her from going on any more trips and no amount of pleading with her father had prevailed on him to take her.

  She could not understand why a sudden embargo had been set like an iron screen on something that made her so happy and which she knew pleased her father too.

  It was in fact only when she began to hear about the gentlemen in Paris who spent so much money on the beautiful ladies of the demi-monde that she vaguely had an idea why her father, when he did escape from the constriction of the Palace, went alone to that beautiful City.

  It was then that half-forgotten words came back to her, words that had been spoken in the past and which had meant nothing to her at the time.

  “I will not have any daughter of mine associating with women like that!” she had heard the Grand Duchess say once, then she had frozen into silence as she realised that Zita had come into the room.

  On another occasion she had heard her mother storm,

  “What sort of reputation do you think you have? Consorting with creatures you meet in – ”

  Again there had been no end to the sentence and gradually other memories came back to help to solve the puzzle as to why she had been left behind.

  One night she had been asleep in a small room with a low ceiling and a breathtaking view of the mountain peaks stretching away into the distance.

  Because the moonlight came through the open window onto her face, Zita had stirred from a very deep sleep of sheer physical exhaustion.

  She and her father had walked all day, swum in an icy cold lake and moved on to reach an attractive little inn high up in the mountains where he had never taken her before.

  When they had arrived, a fair-haired young woman with skin like strawberries and cream and eyes as blue as gentians, came running towards them with a cry of sheer joy on her red lips.

  “You have come back!” she said almost breathlessly to the Grand Duke. “I thought I would never see you again.”

  He smiled, put out his hand to touch her cheek and replied,

  “I always keep my promises, Nevi, and this time I have brought my daughter to meet the prettiest woman in the whole of Aldross!”

  They had eaten a delicious dinner and Zita had been allowed to sip a little of the special wine of the district.

  Then, because she could barely keep her eyes open, she had contentedly gone up to bed to fall asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

  Now with the moonlight on her face she thought how happy she was and she was just slipping back into her dreams when she heard a very soft gentle laugh, then her father’s voice, deep and somehow different from any way she had ever heard him speak before.

  It seemed strange, but she was too sleepy to worry about it and in the morning she had forgotten what she had heard.

&nb
sp; When she did remember, it fitted in with her mother’s anger when her father went off on his trips and, although Zita was no longer allowed to go with him, he continued to go alone and Zita was aware of how bitterly her mother resented it.

  Slowly, because children are rarely very intuitive where their parents are concerned, she began to see her father and mother in a very different perspective from the one she had viewed them in as a child.

  She realised that their marriage had been an arranged one and that it had been greatly to Aldross’s advantage for the Grand Duke to marry into the British Royal Family, for it meant that they could call on a certain amount of British friendship and support should the necessity arise.

  The Grand Duchess, very English in appearance, very stiff and shy and, as Zita thought when she grew older, cold and unemotional, was very different from the warm, extroverted, fun-loving people of Aldross.

  They laughed because they were happy and they sang while they worked.

  When it was dusk, the voices of the labourers going back to their cottages from the fields would ring out like bells and seem somehow to rise towards the snow-capped mountains as if carried on wings.

  It was only this year, when she was nearly eighteen, that Zita was aware that her mother loved her father not because she was his wife, but because she was a woman.

  It gave her a shock when she realised inadvertently and knew almost as if he had told her so, that, while her father treated his wife with respect and attention, he was not in the least what the poets would call ‘in love with her’.

  ‘Oh, poor Mama!’ Zita had thought to herself.

  She decided then that when the occasion arose, she would categorically refuse to be pressured into marrying a man she did not love and who did not love her, however important he might be.

  Looking at her parents with new eyes, she saw that her father, so handsome, so extremely attractive to women, must often feel desperately frustrated.

  The country over which he ruled was small and his marriage constrained him from wandering over the world, as he would have liked.

 

    195. Moon Over Eden Read online195. Moon Over EdenParadise Found Read onlineParadise FoundA Victory for Love Read onlineA Victory for LoveLovers in Lisbon Read onlineLovers in LisbonLove Casts Out Fear Read onlineLove Casts Out FearThe Wicked Widow Read onlineThe Wicked WidowThe Angel and the Rake Read onlineThe Angel and the RakeSweet Enchantress Read onlineSweet EnchantressThe Race For Love Read onlineThe Race For LoveBorn of Love Read onlineBorn of LoveMiracle For a Madonna Read onlineMiracle For a MadonnaLove Joins the Clans Read onlineLove Joins the ClansForced to Marry Read onlineForced to MarryLove Strikes a Devil Read onlineLove Strikes a DevilThe Love Light of Apollo Read onlineThe Love Light of ApolloAn Adventure of Love Read onlineAn Adventure of LovePrinces and Princesses: Favourite Royal Romances Read onlinePrinces and Princesses: Favourite Royal RomancesTerror in the Sun Read onlineTerror in the SunThe Fire of Love Read onlineThe Fire of LoveThe Odious Duke Read onlineThe Odious DukeThe Eyes of Love Read onlineThe Eyes of LoveA Nightingale Sang Read onlineA Nightingale SangThe Wonderful Dream Read onlineThe Wonderful DreamThe Island of Love Read onlineThe Island of LoveThe Protection of Love Read onlineThe Protection of LoveBeyond the Stars Read onlineBeyond the StarsOnly a Dream Read onlineOnly a DreamAn Innocent in Russia Read onlineAn Innocent in RussiaThe Duke Comes Home Read onlineThe Duke Comes HomeLove in the Moon Read onlineLove in the MoonLove and the Marquis Read onlineLove and the MarquisLove Me Forever Read onlineLove Me ForeverFlowers For the God of Love Read onlineFlowers For the God of LoveLove and the Cheetah Read onlineLove and the CheetahA Battle for Love Read onlineA Battle for LoveThe Outrageous Lady Read onlineThe Outrageous LadySeek the Stars Read onlineSeek the StarsThe Storms Of Love Read onlineThe Storms Of LoveSaved by love Read onlineSaved by loveThe Power and the Prince Read onlineThe Power and the PrinceThe Irresistible Buck Read onlineThe Irresistible BuckA Dream from the Night Read onlineA Dream from the NightIn the Arms of Love Read onlineIn the Arms of LoveGood or Bad Read onlineGood or BadWinged Victory Read onlineWinged VictoryThis is Love Read onlineThis is LoveMagic From the Heart Read onlineMagic From the HeartThe Lioness and the Lily Read onlineThe Lioness and the LilyThe Sign of Love Read onlineThe Sign of LoveWarned by a Ghost Read onlineWarned by a GhostLove Conquers War Read onlineLove Conquers WarThe Runaway Heart Read onlineThe Runaway HeartThe Hidden Evil Read onlineThe Hidden EvilJust Fate Read onlineJust FateThe Passionate Princess Read onlineThe Passionate PrincessImperial Splendour Read onlineImperial SplendourLucky in Love Read onlineLucky in LoveHaunted Read onlineHauntedFor All Eternity Read onlineFor All EternityThe Passion and the Flower Read onlineThe Passion and the FlowerThe Enchanted Waltz Read onlineThe Enchanted WaltzTemptation of a Teacher Read onlineTemptation of a TeacherRiding In the Sky Read onlineRiding In the SkyMoon Over Eden (Bantam Series No. 37) Read onlineMoon Over Eden (Bantam Series No. 37)Lucifer and the Angel Read onlineLucifer and the AngelLove is Triumphant Read onlineLove is TriumphantThe Magnificent Marquis Read onlineThe Magnificent MarquisA Kiss for the King Read onlineA Kiss for the KingA Duel With Destiny Read onlineA Duel With DestinyBeauty or Brains Read onlineBeauty or BrainsA Shaft of Sunlight Read onlineA Shaft of SunlightThe Gates of Paradise Read onlineThe Gates of ParadiseWomen have Hearts Read onlineWomen have HeartsTwo Hearts in Hungary Read onlineTwo Hearts in HungaryA Kiss from the Heart Read onlineA Kiss from the Heart108. An Archangel Called Ivan Read online108. An Archangel Called Ivan71 Love Comes West Read online71 Love Comes West103. She Wanted Love Read online103. She Wanted LoveLove in the Clouds Read onlineLove in the Clouds104. A Heart Finds Love Read online104. A Heart Finds Love100. A Rose In Jeopardy Read online100. A Rose In JeopardyTheir Search for Real Love Read onlineTheir Search for Real LoveA Very Special Love Read onlineA Very Special LoveA Royal Love Match Read onlineA Royal Love MatchLove Drives In Read onlineLove Drives InIn Love In Lucca Read onlineIn Love In LuccaNever Forget Love Read onlineNever Forget LoveThe Mysterious Maid-Servant Read onlineThe Mysterious Maid-ServantThe Island of Love (Camfield Series No. 15) Read onlineThe Island of Love (Camfield Series No. 15)Call of the Heart Read onlineCall of the HeartLove Under Fire Read onlineLove Under FireThe Pretty Horse-Breakers Read onlineThe Pretty Horse-BreakersThe Shadow of Sin (Bantam Series No. 19) Read onlineThe Shadow of Sin (Bantam Series No. 19)The Devilish Deception Read onlineThe Devilish DeceptionCastle of Love Read onlineCastle of LoveLittle Tongues of Fire Read onlineLittle Tongues of Fire105. an Angel In Hell Read online105. an Angel In HellLearning to Love Read onlineLearning to LoveAn Introduction to the Pink Collection Read onlineAn Introduction to the Pink CollectionGypsy Magic Read onlineGypsy MagicA Princess Prays Read onlineA Princess PraysThe Goddess and the Gaiety Girl Read onlineThe Goddess and the Gaiety GirlLove Is the Reason For Living Read onlineLove Is the Reason For LivingLove Forbidden Read onlineLove ForbiddenThe Importance of Love Read onlineThe Importance of LoveMission to Monte Carlo Read onlineMission to Monte CarloStars in the Sky Read onlineStars in the SkyThe House of Happiness Read onlineThe House of HappinessAn Innocent in Paris Read onlineAn Innocent in ParisRevenge Is Sweet Read onlineRevenge Is SweetRoyalty Defeated by Love Read onlineRoyalty Defeated by LoveLove At Last Read onlineLove At LastSolita and the Spies Read onlineSolita and the Spies73. A Tangled Web Read online73. A Tangled WebRiding to the Moon Read onlineRiding to the MoonAn Unexpected Love Read onlineAn Unexpected LoveSay Yes Samantha Read onlineSay Yes SamanthaAn Angel Runs Away Read onlineAn Angel Runs AwayThey Found their Way to Heaven Read onlineThey Found their Way to HeavenThe Richness of Love Read onlineThe Richness of LoveLove in the Highlands Read onlineLove in the HighlandsLove In the East Read onlineLove In the EastThey Touched Heaven Read onlineThey Touched HeavenCrowned by Music Read onlineCrowned by MusicThe Mountain of Love Read onlineThe Mountain of LoveThe Heart of love Read onlineThe Heart of loveThe Healing Hand Read onlineThe Healing HandThe Ship of Love Read onlineThe Ship of LoveLove, Lords, and Lady-Birds Read onlineLove, Lords, and Lady-BirdsIt Is Love Read onlineIt Is LoveIn Search of Love Read onlineIn Search of LoveThe Trail to Love Read onlineThe Trail to LoveLove and Apollo Read onlineLove and ApolloTo Heaven With Love Read onlineTo Heaven With LoveNever Laugh at Love Read onlineNever Laugh at LoveThe Punishment of a Vixen Read onlineThe Punishment of a VixenLove and the Loathsome Leopard Read onlineLove and the Loathsome LeopardThe Revelation is Love Read onlineThe Revelation is LoveDouble the Love Read onlineDouble the LoveSaved By A Saint Read onlineSaved By A SaintA Paradise On Earth Read onlineA Paradise On EarthLucky Logan Finds Love Read onlineLucky Logan Finds Love65 A Heart Is Stolen Read online65 A Heart Is StolenThey Sought love Read onlineThey Sought loveThe Husband Hunters Read onlineThe Husband Hunters160 Love Finds the Duke at Last Read online160 Love Finds the Duke at LastKiss the Moonlight Read onlineKiss the MoonlightThe King Without a Heart Read onlineThe King Without a HeartThe Duke & the Preachers Daughter Read onlineThe Duke & the Preachers DaughterThe Golden Cage Read onlineThe Golden CageThe Love Trap Read onlineThe Love TrapWho Can Deny Love Read onlineWho Can Deny LoveA Very Unusual Wife Read onlineA Very Unusual WifeA Teacher of Love Read onlineA Teacher of LoveSearch For a Wife Read onlineSearch For a WifeFire in the Blood Read onlineFire in the BloodSeeking Love Read onlineSeeking LoveThe Keys of Love Read onlineThe Keys of LoveA Change of Hearts Read onlineA Change of HeartsLove in the Ruins Read onlineLove in the Ruins68 The Magic of Love Read online68 The Magic of LoveSecret Harbor Read onlineSecret HarborA Lucky Star Read onlineA Lucky StarPray For Love Read onlinePray For Love21 The Mysterious Maid-Servant (The Eternal Collection) Read online21 The Mysterious Maid-Servant (The Eternal Collection)Alone In Paris Read onlineAlone In ParisPunished with Love Read onlinePunished with LoveJoined by Love Read onlineJoined by LoveA Shooting Star Read onlineA Shooting StarAs Eagles Fly Read onlineAs Eagles FlyThe Wings of Ecstacy Read onlineThe Wings of EcstacyThe Chieftain Without a Heart Read onlineThe Chieftain Without a HeartHiding from Love Read onlineHiding from LoveA Royal Rebuke Read onlineA Royal RebukeThe Scots Never Forget Read onlineThe Scots Never ForgetA Flight To Heaven Read onlineA Flight To HeavenWhite Lilac Read onlineWhite LilacA Heart of Stone Read onlineA Heart of StoneCrowned with Love Read onlineCrowned with LoveFragrant Flower Read onlineFragrant FlowerA Prisioner in Paris Read onlineA Prisioner in ParisA Perfect Way to Heaven Read onlineA Perfect Way to HeavenDiona and a Dalmatian Read onlineDiona and a Dalmatian69 Love Leaves at Midnight Read online69 Love Leaves at MidnightFascination in France Read onlineFascination in FranceBride to a Brigand Read onlineBride to a BrigandBride to the King Read onlineBride to the KingA Heart in Heaven Read onlineA Heart in HeavenLove, Lies and Marriage Read onlineLove, Lies and MarriageA Miracle of Love Read onlineA Miracle of LoveBewitched (Bantam Series No. 16) Read onlineBewitched (Bantam Series No. 16)The White Witch Read onlineThe White WitchA Golden Lie Read onlineA Golden LieThe Poor Governess Read onlineThe Poor GovernessThe Ruthless Rake Read onlineThe Ruthless RakeHide and Seek for Love Read onlineHide and Seek for LoveLovers in London Read onlineLovers in LondonRuled by Love Read onlineRuled by LoveMine for Ever Read onlineMine for EverTheirs to Eternity Read onlineTheirs to EternityThe Blue Eyed Witch Read onlineThe Blue Eyed Witch203. Love Wins Read online203. Love WinsThe Cross of Love Read onlineThe Cross of LoveThe Ghost Who Fell in Love Read onlineThe Ghost Who Fell in LoveLove and Lucia Read onlineLove and Lucia66 The Love Pirate Read online66 The Love PirateThe Marquis Who Hated Women (Bantam Series No. 62) Read onlineThe Marquis Who Hated Women (Bantam Series No. 62)The Tree of Love Read onlineThe Tree of LoveA Night of Gaiety Read onlineA Night of GaietyDanger in the Desert Read onlineDanger in the DesertThe Devil in Love (Bantam Series No. 24) Read onlineThe Devil in Love (Bantam Series No. 24)Money or Love Read onlineMoney or LoveA Steeplechase For Love Read onlineA Steeplechase For LoveIn Hiding Read onlineIn HidingSword to the Heart (Bantam Series No. 13) Read onlineSword to the Heart (Bantam Series No. 13)74. Love Lifts The Curse Read online74. Love Lifts The CurseThe Proud Princess Read onlineThe Proud Princess72. The Impetuous Duchess Read online72. The Impetuous DuchessThe Waters of Love Read onlineThe Waters of LoveThis Way to Heaven Read onlineThis Way to HeavenThe Goddess Of Love Read onlineThe Goddess Of LoveGift Of the Gods Read onlineGift Of the Gods60 The Duchess Disappeared Read online60 The Duchess DisappearedA Dangerous Disguise Read onlineA Dangerous DisguiseLove at the Tower Read onlineLove at the TowerThe Star of Love Read onlineThe Star of LoveSignpost To Love Read onlineSignpost To LoveSecret Love Read onlineSecret LoveRevenge of the Heart Read onlineRevenge of the HeartLove Rescues Rosanna Read onlineLove Rescues RosannaFollow Your Heart Read onlineFollow Your HeartA Revolution Of Love Read onlineA Revolution Of LoveThe Dare-Devil Duke Read onlineThe Dare-Devil DukeA Heaven on Earth Read onlineA Heaven on EarthRivals for Love Read onlineRivals for LoveThe Glittering Lights (Bantam Series No. 12) Read onlineThe Glittering Lights (Bantam Series No. 12)70 A Witch's Spell Read online70 A Witch's SpellThe Queen Wins Read onlineThe Queen WinsLove Finds the Way Read onlineLove Finds the WayWish for Love Read onlineWish for LoveThe Temptation of Torilla Read onlineThe Temptation of TorillaThe Devil Defeated Read onlineThe Devil DefeatedThe Dream and the Glory Read onlineThe Dream and the GloryJourney to love Read onlineJourney to loveToo Precious to Lose Read onlineToo Precious to LoseKiss from a Stranger Read onlineKiss from a StrangerA Duke in Danger Read onlineA Duke in DangerLove Wins In Berlin Read onlineLove Wins In BerlinThe Wild Cry of Love Read onlineThe Wild Cry of LoveA Battle of Brains Read onlineA Battle of BrainsA Castle of Dreams Read onlineA Castle of DreamsThe Unwanted Wedding Read onlineThe Unwanted Wedding64 The Castle Made for Love Read online64 The Castle Made for Love202. Love in the Dark Read online202. Love in the DarkLove Is Dangerous Read onlineLove Is Dangerous107. Soft, Sweet & Gentle Read online107. Soft, Sweet & GentleA Kiss In the Desert Read onlineA Kiss In the DesertA Virgin Bride Read onlineA Virgin BrideThe Disgraceful Duke Read onlineThe Disgraceful DukeLook Listen and Love Read onlineLook Listen and LoveA Hazard of Hearts Read onlineA Hazard of Hearts104. the Glittering Lights Read online104. the Glittering LightsA Marriage Made In Heaven Read onlineA Marriage Made In HeavenRescued by Love Read onlineRescued by LoveLove Came From Heaven Read onlineLove Came From HeavenJourney to Happiness Read onlineJourney to Happiness106. Love's Dream in Peril Read online106. Love's Dream in PerilThe Castle of Love Read onlineThe Castle of LoveTouching the Stars Read onlineTouching the Stars169. A Cheiftain finds Love (The Eternal Collection) Read online169. A Cheiftain finds Love (The Eternal Collection)171. The Marquis Wins (The Eternal Collection) Read online171. The Marquis Wins (The Eternal Collection)Sailing to Love Read onlineSailing to LoveThe Unbreakable Spell Read onlineThe Unbreakable SpellThe Cruel Count (Bantam Series No. 28) Read onlineThe Cruel Count (Bantam Series No. 28)The Secret of the Glen Read onlineThe Secret of the GlenDanger to the Duke Read onlineDanger to the DukeThe Peril and the Prince Read onlineThe Peril and the PrinceThe Duke Is Deceived Read onlineThe Duke Is DeceivedA Road to Romance Read onlineA Road to RomanceA King In Love Read onlineA King In LoveLove and the Clans Read onlineLove and the ClansLove and the Gods Read onlineLove and the GodsThe Incredible Honeymoon (Bantam Series No. 46) Read onlineThe Incredible Honeymoon (Bantam Series No. 46)Pure and Untouched Read onlinePure and UntouchedWanted a Royal Wife Read onlineWanted a Royal WifeThe Castle Read onlineThe Castle63 Ola and the Sea Wolf Read online63 Ola and the Sea WolfCount the Stars Read onlineCount the StarsThe Winning Post Is Love Read onlineThe Winning Post Is LoveDancing on a Rainbow Read onlineDancing on a RainbowLove by the Lake Read onlineLove by the LakeFrom Hell to Heaven Read onlineFrom Hell to HeavenThe Triumph of Love Read onlineThe Triumph of Love