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- Herausgeber: Barbara Cartland Ebooks Ltd
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Serie: The Pink Collection
- Sprache: Englisch
The Duke of Rockcliffe returns home to England from the British Army of Occupation which after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 is located at Cambrai. He had left England seven years ago when he was merely a young Lieutenant who intended to spend his life in the Army. Owing to the death of several Heir Presumptives to the Dukedom, he finds himself unexpectedly and to his great surprise the new Duke. He also discovers that he has a Ward called Nelita, the daughter of General Sir Edward Sheldon who had been his Commander. Sir Edward was killed by a stray cannon ball at the Battle of Waterloo. General Sheldon made the Duke Nelita's Guardian because she has inherited her mother's enormous fortune and he was afraid of fortune-hunters. The Duke first heard about the stunningly beautiful and lively Nelita when he read in The Morning Post a description of how, in answer to a challenge, she walked along the parapet of a house in Belgrave Square and was watched by a large crowd who were encouraging her. He is determined that this sort of behaviour should not continue and he then finds that she has been staying with a fast member of Society called Lady Marshbanks, who is not considered to be a suitable chaperone for Nelita. Her next escapade is to show him that she is not a dull and conventional debutante. She dresses up, painted and disguised, as a Society beauty and is clever enough to deceive two of the Duke's friends who are dining with him. He takes her to the Ascot races where they have luncheon with the Prince Regent and the Duke guesses that she has another prank in her mind that he is resolved to stop before it goes too far. Nelita, however, finds that a particularly unpleasant fortune-hunter, Sir James Jensen, is trying to blackmail her best friend in London. She manages to outwit Sir James, but he plans a terrible revenge for Nelita. She is terrified at his dastardly plot and has no idea how she can escape from him.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015
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A Train to Love
BARBARA CARTLAND
www.barbaracartland.com
Copyright © 2014 by Cartland Promotions
First published on the internet in January 2015 by Barbaracartland.com
ISBNs
978-1-78213-620-0 Print
978-1-78213-659-0 Epub
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 Train to Love
It was by now after six o’clock and the sun was beginning to sink in the sky and birds were going to roost.
But there were still plenty of butterflies hovering over the flowers and the soft buzz of bees collecting pollen.
The Count walked slowly over the green grass that was as soft as velvet.
He went towards the shrubbery and the cascade and then, as he passed by the entrance to the Herb Garden, he thought that he would take a look at the fountain.
It always pleased his artistic sense to see the water flung up in the air and then in the sunshine it looked like little drops of the rainbow as it fell into the bowl beneath it.
He walked through the gate and then stopped.
He had expected the Herb Garden to be empty as it usually was.
To his surprise someone else was there.
He saw that it was a woman who seemed to be part of the falling water and the sunshine turned her hair to gold.
It was someone had never seen before.
She was, however, so lovely and so much part of the fountain that he felt that he was looking at a painting by some great Master.
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.
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
A Sacrifice for Love
Love's Dream in Peril
Soft, sweet & Gentle
An Archangel Called Ivan
A Prisoner in Paris
Danger in the desert
Rescued by Love
A Road to Romance
A Golden Lie
A heart of stone
The Earl Elopes
A Wilder Kind of Love
The Bride Runs Away
Beyond the Horizon
Crowned by Music
Love solves the Problem
Blessing of the Gods
Love by Moonlight
Saved by the Duke
A Train to 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 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.
“I have always loved the beauty of Italy, its glorious Churches, its fabulous views and its sublime paintings that show throughout history that the power of love is still more important than anything else is everyone’s life.”
Barbara Cartland
CHAPTER ONE ~ 1884
“What do you intend to do about the house?” the Earl of Kencombe asked.
There was a distinct pause before Lola answered,
“I thought maybe, Uncle Arthur, I could stay here.”
“Stay here alone?” the Earl exclaimed, “of course not! You know as well as I do a girl of eighteen cannot live alone, unless you can find someone to chaperone you.”
Lola had already thought of this and she had to say rather weakly,
“I cannot think of anyone I would not have to pay.”
That she knew was the crucial point.
She had known when she saw the expression on her uncle’s face that their discussion, when they did have one, was going to be very difficult.
She had just buried her father and mother.
It seemed incredible that only a few days ago they were all so happy in the small village in Worcestershire.
They had few neighbours, but that had not worried them and Lola could not imagine any two people being as happy as her father and mother.
Granted that all her mother’s family had violently disapproved of her marriage.
Lady Cecilia Combe had been very beautiful and her parents were looking forward to presenting her at Court and giving her a Season in London.
To their horror, just before they were packing up to leave their house in Norfolk, Lady Cecilia had announced that she wished to marry her brother’s Tutor.
Neville Fenton was a gentleman, but apart from that he had little to recommend him to the family.
He was very clever and had had a good education and he had started to write books after they were married. These were acclaimed as being brilliant, but did not bring in a great deal of money.
His books were usually on rather obscure subjects that few people found especially interesting, but to his wife they were everything she wanted to read and hear.
Lady Cecilia’s father was furious at her persisting that Neville Fenton was the only man she would marry.
He threatened to cut her off without a penny, but, when they were actually married, he relented to give her Government Stock that brought her in fifty pounds a year.
This, Lola knew, was all that she had now to live on, dress and feed herself and keep a roof over her head.
She suspected that if anyone from the family did come to the funeral it would be her uncle, who had recently inherited the title.
She was well aware that her mother had never been very fond of him and they had not got on well.
Her younger brother, to whom Neville Fenton had been Tutor, had sadly died when he was only eighteen.
Even as Lola was watching the two coffins being lowered into the grave, she had found it difficult to believe that her father and mother had really left her.
They had only gone on a short railway journey to Worcester.
Her father had wanted more manuscript paper and to explore the bookshops, as he always hoped to find books of reference for his next book.
That they had been involved in a railway accident on their return journey seemed incredible.
It was not as though it was a very serious accident, with only three people having been killed.
But two of them had been her father and mother.
It was one of those accidents that were inevitably taking place on the new railways that were being built all over England and the Companies boasted that there were very few accidents and if they did they were not serious.
Nothing could be more serious to Lola, however, than to lose her adored father and mother.
She suddenly found herself an orphan with no one to turn to for help except her mother’s family, which meant the fifth Earl of Kencombe.
She had notified him of her parents’ deaths.
When he had actually appeared in the small village Church, she felt her heart sink.
He was looking just as supercilious as she expected he would and he was, in his own way, very overpowering.
They had come back after the Service to the pretty Elizabethan cottage which was her home.
Lola felt that he looked disdainfully at the small rooms, the ancient casements and the sparse furniture.
No one could have said that Meadow Cottage was anything but attractive, but Lola knew instinctively that to her uncle size counted more than beauty.
He had found it hard to believe that his sister could prefer a cottage to the mansions that had been inhabited by the Earls of Kencombe for five generations.
He walked across the room now in a few strides and stood looking out at the garden.
Lady Cecilia had made it a picture of beauty every spring and summer and she had tended it all herself, just as she had the Herb Garden and everyone admired it.
Lola knew that her uncle was thinking of his broad acres, a huge Park with stags and the pastures her mother had ridden high-spirited horses over as a girl.
Lady Cecilia had described it all to her daughter so often that Lola felt that she had lived there herself and she could picture everything her mother had done until she lost her head to the most attractive man she had ever seen.
Neville Fenton was certainly that, but unfortunately his handsome looks could not provide him with money and the only way he could make any was to tutor for Oxford and Cambridge examinations.
As he often boasted, his students always succeeded, thanks to the coaching they had received from him.
Between the two, who ordinarily would never have met each other, there was an instant affinity and they both acknowledged that it was love at first sight.
All they had to live on was Lady Cecilia’s fifty pounds a year and what Neville Fenton could make out of the books he now began to write as well as his tuition fees.
He fortunately inherited Meadow Cottage from his grandmother, who had retired there when she was a widow and to him and his wife it was a little Paradise of their own and they asked for nothing more.
They could only afford one horse between them, but, as Lady Cecilia was such a good rider, she was often mounted by the local Master of Foxhounds because, as he often boasted, he had known her father.
Actually it was because she was so pretty and so charming that she graced any hunting field just by being present.
When she and her husband were riding together, it was said that no two people could look more attractive. It was as if they came from some abode of the Gods.
‘Lola’ was an abbreviation of the Spanish name, Dolores, and, when she was born, her father was writing a book about Spanish customs.
She was small, slim and very lovely. And she had the same fair hair as Lady Cecilia and the very dark blue eyes of her father.
Neville Fenton had often been told that his eyes were like a tempestuous sea, but on Lola they looked more like the Madonna’s robe and they accentuated the fairness of her skin and her exquisitely chiselled classical features.
“You are so very lovely, my darling,” Lady Cecilia said to her daughter on her eighteenth birthday. “I wish that Papa and I could give a ball for you.”
“I am more than happy to dance with Papa while you play the piano,” Lola had answered her.
Her mother smiled, but Lola realised that she was disappointed, as she really wanted her daughter to have the same advantages that she had enjoyed and her family had declared that she had thrown those advantages away.
“If only we had a little more money,” she had said once when they could not afford to buy something that she particularly wanted.
Then, before Lola could speak, she had added,
“What a silly thing to say! I have everything in the world, in fact no woman is richer than I am.”
She kissed her daughter and then on an impulse she had gone into the study and kissed her husband. She told him that she loved him even though she was disturbing him when he was working.
‘How can they have left me?’ Lola silently asked again for the hundredth time.
“I suppose,” the Earl said in a harsh voice, “I shall have to look after you and you will have to come and live with me at Kencombe Hall.”
“That is very kind – of you,” Lola replied faintly.
At the same time every single nerve in her body was crying out that she had no wish to go there.
It was what she would have to do, but she wanted to stay here in this lovely cottage that was so filled with sunshine and love.
Her mother had often spoken of her family home, but she had, however, always been reserved when talking about her elder brother.
Now that Lola had seen him, she realised that her instinct in guessing that he was unpleasant was right.
“Of course you can make yourself useful about the house,” the Earl was saying, “and I daresay your aunt will find quite a number of tasks to keep you busy.”
Lola pressed her lips together.
She could imagine all too well how, because she was unwanted, that she would be made a jack-of-all-trades and every task that no one else was willing to do would be assigned to her.
“Well, that’s settled,” the Earl said, “I suppose you have enough money to bring you to London.”
He hesitated a moment before he went on,
“There is no one here to travel with you, so you will have to do that part of the journey alone. But I will arrange for one of the housemaids at Kencombe House in Park Lane to accompany you to my house in the country. I am not certain of the train service, but, if you have to stay one night in London, the servants will look after you.”
“Thank you, Uncle Arthur,” Lola said demurely.
She was thinking that, if he could keep up the large house in London and an even larger one in the country, he could easily afford to give her a small allowance.
Then she could stay here and engage a chaperone to look after her and she was sure she could find an elderly retired Governess and so she would not have to continually hear her relations telling her what a mistake her mother had made in marrying her father.
Lady Cecilia had only received a few letters from her family and they had always hinted that she had made a terrible mistake in her life.
Lady Cecilia had read the letters and laughed.
“They really don’t understand,” she had said to her husband. “If I was offered Buckingham Palace, the Shah of Persia’s Palace and the Taj Mahal, I would still choose Meadow Cottage as long as you were with me.”
Neville Fenton kissed his wife and declared,
“I love and adore you, my darling, and nothing else is of any consequence.”
”Nothing,” Lady Cecilia agreed, “except our little angel who is going to grow up just as clever as you are.”
“And as long as she is as beautiful as you,” Neville Fenton said, “no one will bother about her brains!”
Now Lola told herself,
‘If I really had any brains, I would manage to stay here at Meadow Cottage.’
She was only too well aware, however, that, even if she could afford to do so, her uncle would never allow it. Not that he wanted her to be with him and his family, but he would worry about what ‘people would say’.
Lady Cecilia had been well known and liked in the County and they would certainly disapprove if her only child was to be neglected by the Kencombes.
“That means I shall expect you on Wednesday,” the Earl was saying.
He was speaking rather louder than necessary as if he was determined to make sure that she would obey him and Lola could only reply weakly,
“I will pack everything up and bring with me what I wish to keep.”
“Then you had better put the house up for sale,” the Earl asserted.
Lola hesitated and then told him the truth.
“Well actually, Uncle Arthur, a very good friend of Papa’s, who is a retired Don from his College at Oxford, has asked if I would rent it to him.”
“You did not tell me that before,” the Earl said angrily. “You said that you wished to stay here yourself.”
“That is what I would still like to do.”
“Well, you cannot do so and therefore there is no more argument about it. I am your Guardian and, whether you like it or not, you have to obey me.”
“I have already said, Uncle Arthur, that I will come to you on Wednesday.”
He was bullying her and she hated him for it.
At the same time, because she could not bear to part with the cottage where she had been so happy, she would rather it was looked after by her father’s friend.
He had promised he would take care of the books and furniture, which would be better than selling them.
“What rent would he pay?” the Earl demanded.
“Thirty pounds a year and I know that he will be very careful with everything.”
“Thirty pounds!” the Earl said reflectively. “Well, with the fifty pounds from your mother, you will be able to pay for your clothes and anything else you may require.”
He paused for a moment and then added,
“You will have your food free with me and a roof, a very substantial one, over your head. In fact you are a very lucky young woman.”
Lola forced herself to reply,
“I am, of course, very grateful, Uncle Arthur.”
“Then that is all settled. Now I must leave for the station. There is a train in half an hour if it is punctual.”
He walked out of the sitting room into the small hall. His top hat was on a chair and he picked it up.
Outside the front door the carriage he had hired to bring him from the Station to the Church was waiting.
When the driver saw Lola, he touched his forelock.
“Nice to see you, Miss Lola,” he said. “It’s sorry I be about your father and mother. They’ll be real missed in these parts.”
“I miss them terribly,” Lola murmured.
Her uncle climbed into the carriage and she went to the open window to say,
“Goodbye, Uncle Arthur. It was very good of you to come. I know Mama would have appreciated it.”
“Goodbye,” the Earl replied, “and don’t forget that I will be expecting you on Wednesday.”
Lola stood back as the driver started up his horses.
She raised her hand to wave, but was aware that her uncle was staring straight ahead.
She watched the carriage drive through the wooden gate and then she turned and ran into the house.
She had kept tight control of herself all through the service and while her uncle was there.
Now the tears were running down her cheeks.
Leaving the front door wide open, she went up to her bedroom and flung herself on the bed and, burying her face in the pillow, she cried and cried.
She felt that she had lost everything.
Not only her father and mother but her home and the happiness she had known ever since she was born.
She only wished that she had been with them in the train and that she had died too.
Really what was the point of living when there was nothing in the future but Uncle Arthur bullying her? And his family would scorn her because she was more or less a penniless orphan.
“Oh, Mama, Papa!” she sobbed, “how could you do this to me, how can I possibly go away to live with those horrible people who never cared for you?”
It was a long time later before she stopped crying.
She told herself that she must tidy the house and pack all the things that she wanted to take with her.
She wished she could take everything, especially the four-poster bed with its crisp muslin curtains tied back with little bows of blue ribbon that matched her eyes.
She wanted everything in her mother’s room. It was all part of her life and the endless love her mother had given her.
She went downstairs into the small room her father had made his study and where he wrote his books and she looked at those lining the walls and could not bear to leave them behind.
Because Neville Fenton had always tutored boys, he had taught Lola in much the same way as he had taught them. She had learned Latin, French, Italian and a little Greek as well as all the usual subjects.
It was when she was staring at her father’s books that Lola suddenly had an idea.
