43. Danger To The Duke - The Pink Collection

Barbara Cartland

Description

Major Michael Moore has been playing a very dangerous part in the Great Game in India where he foils a plot to kill the Viceroy who tells Michael he is now a marked man and that he must return to England immediately. To his astonishment on his way home he reads in a newspaper that following the death of his grandfather he has become the Duke of Grangemoore. When he reaches England he decides he will not announce his arrival to the family Solicitors as he wishes to visit Grangemoore Hall under another name to see for himself what the situation is before he takes up his new position as Duke. While he is driving there he is stopped in the countryside by a beautiful young girl who begs him frantically to save her. Adela is running away from her stepmother and she is so persistent that Michael agrees to take her with him. When Adela and Michael arrive in disguise he discovers an appalling situation because a distant cousin has taken over the house and filled it with his friends who are nothing but drunken criminals. How Michael is saved by Adela from a horrible death and how they both escape and find happiness is told in this exciting romance by BARBARA CARTLAND. "Barbara Cartland was the world’s most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages.As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery.She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation.Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world.She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven. Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author.Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed.Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone’s life."

Sujets

• Downton Abbey
• Mills & Boon
• Thomas Hardy
• Jane Austen
• Harlequin

Informations

• Publié par: M-Y Books
• Date de parution: 14 août 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781908303578
• Langue: English

Extrait

DANGER TO THE DUKE BARBARA CARTLAND

Barbaracartland.com Ltd

Copyright © 2008 by Cartland Promotions

First published on the internet in April 2008

byBarbaracartland.com

The characters and situations in this book are enti rely 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 ph otocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval, without the prior permission in writing from the publisher.

eBook conversion byM-Y Books

Danger to the Duke

Michael was driving down a straight stretch of road that was only a little wider than a lane and then he saw ahead that there was so meone standing in the middle of the road. It was the only person in sight. As he drove nearer he saw that it was a woman and s he was holding up her hands as if to stop him. There was no question of being able to pass her, so Michael therefore drew in his horses, coming to a stop just in front of th e woman who he now saw was young and slim. When the horses came at a standstill, she ran round the side of the chaise and Michael could see that she was very young and v ery pretty. “Please,”she pleaded, “please take me with you. Please, it is very important! The words seemed to tumble out of her lips and Michael looked at her in surprise. “Where do you want to go? he asked. “I am afraid I have no time to spare. “Anywhere and please let me come with you. It is o f the utmost importance to me. “But where do you want to go? Michael enquired aga in. “It does not matter I just have to get away or they will catch me. There was a note of terror in her voice which Micha el knew was genuine.

THE BARBARA CARTLAND PINK COLLECTION

BarbaraCartland was the most prolific bestselling author in the history of the world. She was frequently in the Guinness Book of R ecords for writing more books in a year than any other living author. In fa ct 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 2 0 years and wrote her last book at the age of 97, thus completing 400 books be tween 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, som ething again that no other

author has ever achieved. Now the exciting news is that these 160 original un published Barbara Cartland books are ready for publication and they w ill be published by Barbaracartland.com exclusively on the internet, as the web is the best possible way to reach so many Barbara Cartland readers aroun d the world. The 160 books will be published monthly and will be numbered in sequence. The series is called the Pink Collection as a tribu te 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 o nly on the internet. Log on towww.barbaracartland.com to find out how you can purchase the books monthly as they are published, and take out a subsc ription that will ensure that all subsequent editions are delivered to you by mai l order to your home. If you do not have access to a computer you can wri te for information about the Pink Collection to the following address : Barbara Cartland.com Ltd. 240 High Road, Harrow Weald, Harrow HA3 7BB United Kingdom. Telephone & fax: [phone]

Titles in this series

1. The Cross of Love 2. Love in the Highlands 3. Love Finds the Way 4. The Castle of Love 5. Love is Triumphant

6. Stars in the Sky 7. The Ship of Love 8. A Dangerous Disguise 9. Love Became Theirs 10. Love Drives In 11. Sailing to Love 12. The Star of Love 13. Music is the Soul of Love 14. Love in the East 15. Theirs to Eternity 16. A Paradise on Earth 17. Love Wins in Berlin 18. In Search of Love 19. Love Rescues Rosanna 20. A Heart in Heaven 21. The House of Happiness 22. Royalty Defeated by Love 23. The White Witch 24. They Sought Love 25. Love is the Reason for Living 26. They Found Their Way to Heaven

27. Learning to Love 28. Journey to Happiness 29. A Kiss in the Desert 30. The Heart of Love 31. The Richness of Love 32. For Ever and Ever 33. An Unexpected Love 34. Saved by an Angel 35. Touching the Stars 36. Seeking Love 37. Journey to Love 38. The Importance of Love 39. Love by the Lake 40. A Dream Come True

41. The King without a Heart 42. The Waters of Love 43. Danger to the Duke

THELATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND

Barbara Cartland was theho sadly died in May 2000 at the age of nearly 99 w world’s most famous romantic novelist who wrote 723 books in her lifetime with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her bo oks were translated into 36 different languages. As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical bi ographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays, books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery. She also found time to be a political spea ker and television and radio personality. She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and this was calledJigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 cop ies in hardback and was

translated into 6 different languages. She wrote co ntinuously throughout her life, writing bestsellers for an astonishing 76 years. He r books have always been immensely popular in the United States, where in 19 76 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author. Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetim e and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels, so lo ved by her millions of readers throughout the world. Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her good looking and dashing her oes and above all her belief that the power of love is more important than anyth ing else in everyone’s life. “Falling in love can never be planned or organised by mere human beings. Love is a gift from God.” Barbara Cartland

CHAPTER ONE - 1885

As the P&O liner moved out the harbour of Alexandri a, Major Michael Moore breathed a sigh of relief. India was now far behind him and very much to his s urprise he was still alive. It was the Viceroy, the Marquis of Dufferin, who ha d said to him, “I am deeply grateful to you, Moore, for saving my life and of a great number of British troops. At the same time you are now a m arked man and the sooner you return home for a long holiday the better.” Michael Moore realised that what the Viceroy was sa ying was common sense. He had been intimately involved in one of the most dangerous and frightening undercover operations he had ever known . When he came to India as a Subaltern, he had been a ttracted, as so many young Officers, by what was known as the ‘Great Gam e’, which had started at the beginning of the century when the Russian troop s had begun their Southward advance through the Caucasus. Having crushed the Caucasian tribes after a long an d bitter resistance, the

Russians next switched their gaze Eastwards. In a vast area of desert and mountains lay the Musl im Khanates of Khiva and Bokhara and it was only as Russian victories over t hese small tribes followed one after another monotonously that fears for the s afety of India were beginning to be felt. One by one the ancient caravan towns fell to the ha rd riding Russian Cossacks, who were moving closer and closer to Indi a’s ill-guarded frontiers. It was then that the British military became involv ed in what was whispered about as ‘the Great Game’. They risked their lives over and over again. They filled in blanks on the map, reported on Russi an movements and tried to win the allegiance of suspicious Khans. Many fai led to return from the treacherous North- West and died bravely in appalli ng circumstances. As the threat from Russia increased, so did the num bers of participants in the Great Game. Most were professionals, Indian Army Of ficers or political agents and they were sent by their superiors in Calcutta t o gather intelligence by any means they could muster. Others were amateurs, sometimes travellers of indep endent means and they were surprisingly successful in what one of the Cza r’s Ministers once called ‘this

tournament of shadows’. In his years of service in India Michael Moore had become a professional. He was trusted by the Viceroy and the Chiefs of the Ar my to take on assignments that were thought to be too perilous for anyone els e and he had been amazingly successful. This was principally because when he first arrived in India he did not prize his own life very highly. He had actually journeyed to India to escape from E ngland and a broken heart. Michael Moore was the son of Lord Charles Moore, th e third son of the Fourth Duke of Grangemoore. The Duke was an extremely affluent and important grandee who had expelled his son Charles from the bosom of his family and Mi chael had in fact never met his grandfather. Lord Charles had rebelled against the ancient tradi tion that his father should choose for him the woman he should marry. Both his elder brothers had meekly obeyed their fat her’s wishes and when they were twenty-one, the Duke had arranged their m arriages. He chose blue- blooded young women whose family in his opinion was the equal of his own. Lord Charles had seen his eldest brother married to an exceedingly dull and rather plain girl, the daughter of a neighbouring D uke who was a friend of his father.

For his second son the Duke had chosen a Bulgarian Princess, whose father was anxious to find some excuse for flying the Unio n Jack in his small and not well protected country. In Lord Charles’s opinion both his brothers were, i f not unhappy in their marriages, they were excessively bored by their wiv es and took the opportunity, whenever it was possible, of being unfaithful to th em. Lord Charles was an idealist and resembled his moth er rather than his father. Just before his twenty-first birthday he was told t hat it was time for him to be married to a blue blood acceptable to his father an d he immediately travelled to London to look for a wife with whom he had some cha nce of finding happiness. By what seemed to him a miracle he discovered her. It happened only a week after he had begun to do th e rounds of the Mayfair ballrooms. As he was the son of a Duke and his pare nts were well known in the Social world he had been heartily welcomed by mothe rs with marriageable daughters, although as a third son he had little ch ance of ever inheriting the title. At a dinner party preceding a ball which was being thrown by one of the most important Social hostesses in London, Lord Charles sat next to a young girl, who was very lovely but seemed extremely shy. After he had talked to her for a little while he di scovered she had been asked only at the last moment to take the place of a youn g woman who had been taken