Arriving home from school, Bertilla is sad to find her home unprepared for her and her widowed mother is far from pleased to see her. Even worse, Lady Alvinston, a celebrated Society beauty, makes it clear that she has no intention of allowing her pretty eighteen-year-old daughter anywhere near the glittering London social scene she enjoys so much herself. As her mother continues her scheming to snare a wealthy husband before her looks fade, the last thing she needs is Bertilla making it obvious that she is old enough to have a grown up daughter. So when handsome Lord Saire, the prize amongst all of the eligible bachelors, happens upon Bertilla at a railway station, Lady Alvinston determines that their paths shall never cross again. Hastily packed up and sent to live with her mean-spirited Aunt Agatha, a Missionary in Sarawak, Bertilla is reconciled to the fact that she will never see England again. Feeling rejected, unloved and facing the deprivations of a Second Class ticket on her long sea voyage to Malaya, she is astounded to meet Lord Saire once more. Cut off from everything she knows and thrown into the elegant world of the steamship Saloon, Bertilla clutches at the kindness offered by Lord Saire, the man the Society matron’s call, ‘the Love Pirate’. Dashing, independent and a well-known heartbreaker, Lord Saire is cast in the unusual role of rescuer as they travel towards the beauty and mystery of the Far East. Acting as guardian and protector to Bertilla is very different to the passionate but brief relationships with Society beauties he normally enjoys and demonstrates the caring side of his nature. But is this a role he relishes or are his eyes really on the sophisticated married women he usually spends time with? As a man who has shunned love and marriage is he really the ideal protector for Bertilla as she dreams of freedom, romance and true love?

After her quiet life in the Highlands of Scotland, the Laird's daughter Ola Mcnewton is looking forward to going to London to take part in Queen Victoria's Jubilee.At first it seemed a good joke to pretend to be a Balkan Princess, and be entertained by the handsome Duke of Cranborne. During one enchanted evening with him, they fell in love. But did the Duke fall in love with her, or the mysterious Balkan Princess...Then the Security Services, fearful of a plot on the Queen's life, became suspicious of Ola, and it seemed that only the Duke could save her. How they overcame the obstacles and realised their true love for each other is revealed in this exciting and romantic novel by Barbara Cartland.

Queen's Ford, built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and home to the noble Forde family for centuries, is crumbling into ruin.Devastated by the reduced circumstances in which he finds himself due to the outlandish spending of his late father, the current Lord Fordcombe simply cannot afford to repair it.With only a few loyal servants to serve the family, even the once beautiful gardens and stables are shabby and unkempt. In fact the Forde family, blue-blooded and aristocratic, who have entertained more than one English Monarch during their illustrious past, are now so poor that they struggle to find money for food.Driven beyond endurance and crushed by the monotony of poverty, Jeremy, the handsome twenty-one year old son of Lord Fordcombe decides that something desperate must be done. Artfully persuading his eldest sister, Mariota, to sacrifice her principles and go along with his daring plan, she joins him in holding up a coach masquerading as highwaymen.But as the...

Shana, the beautiful daughter of Lord Hallam has not yet been a debutante as she has been helping her father write his autobiography.Although retired from the Foreign Office, Lord Hallam agrees to go abroad leaving his daughter alone in the country.Before he leaves he asks Shana to run an errand to the landlord of the village inn known as the Rose and Crown, where she finds there is a crisis in the kitchen and offers to cook luncheon for the Marquis of Kilbrooke and his shooting party.She not only cooks the food, but helps to wait at table and she meets the Marquis who to her surprise is young and very handsome.Shana returns to the Rose and Crown to cook again for two strangers who turn out to be Italians and overhears, as she speaks Italian fluently, their dastardly plot to rob the Marquis of his extremely valuable collection of gold and silver heirlooms.She feels it is her duty to warn the Marquis of their plot and in doing so becomes involved in an exciting...

Horrified when her beloved dog, Rufus, is caught in a cruel snare while out walking in the estate of Arrow Castle, local Parson's daughter Shenda is at first relieved when a handsome stranger comes to poor Rufus's rescue and then at once she is abashed and confused when he claims a kiss – Shenda's very first – as his reward. But then she is told that her father has been killed by a savage bull and that she must leave the family's Vicarage forthwith. Penniless Shenda is obliged to take a job at Arrow Castle as a seamstress, where she stumbles across a letter from one of Napoleon Bonaparte's spies to Society beauty Lucille Gratton, 'the most beautiful Lady in England', who is staying at The Castle. Reporting the discovery to the Earl, she finds that he is no other than her 'gentleman stranger' and just as she realises that she is falling in love with the heroic Earl of Arrow, she is embroiled in a counter-espionage plot that puts her young life – and her love...

When two dashing gentlemen ride up to Rensham Hall, the ancestral Norfolk home of the beautiful Lady Chiara Fairfax, her world is turned upside down, as she and her mother are just recovering from the unexpected death of her father, Lord Fairfax. One of them, the handsome Mervyn Hunter, is soon in ardent pursuit of the lovely Chiara. But can she trust his declarations of love or does the mysterious, dark-haired stranger she encounters by chance on the seashore hold the key to her future happiness? Mervyn Hunter proposes marriage to Chiara and she turns him down, as she does not love him and she senses that he is cold and calculating and has an ulterior motive in asking her to be his wife. As she watches spellbound, a group of wild swans fly North over the sea towards Russia, Chiara feels a magical world of passion and beauty calling to her. Soon she too will be travelling North to the enchanting City of St. Petersburg, although in the company of Mervyn Hunter’s pushy sister and her two tiresome daughters. But will she ever break free from the clutches of Mervyn Hunter and his family and be reunited with her true soulmate, the elusive and mysterious Count Dimitrov? Find out, in this scintillating and thrilling romance by Barbara Cartland.

The beautiful Princess Ileana is virtually ruler of Zokala because her father the King, has been in a coma for over six months.Enjoying the freedom her fathers illness allows her, she is shaken when the Prime Minister informs her that a large number of brigands under the leadership of General Vladilas have entered the country uninvited and are camping in the mountains.To her horror the Princess discovers that the Zokalan Army and its aged Generals have no intelligence of this potential threat, and no strategy to protect their people.A fearless rider and experienced mountain climber, Ileana sets off to see if she can spy on the camp and find out what the brigands are doing. With only one mountain guide to protect her, she bravely determines to discover whether the peaceful land of Zokala is under threat.To her dismay her worst fears are confirmed when she finds that the valley is filled with the latest and most up-to-date guns and weapons of war. Convinced that the...

Returning from finishing school in France, Louisa Hatton was full of enthusiasm for the life ahead. She was convinced it would be exciting and romantic.But her parents had already planned a very suitable marriage for her to Lord Westbridge, their new neighbour. He was a cold, hard man and he wanted Louisa despite her protests.Her parents would not support her. Her father owed Lord Westbridge money.It seemed that for help she could only turn to the mysterious, handsome Roderick Blake, whose dark eyes haunted her.But Roderick was only a groom. How could he protect Louisa from the forces ranged against her?How they faced danger together and Louisa discovered Roderick's secret is told in this thrilling romantic novel by BARBARA CARTLAND.

When her irresponsible brother rents the family home, Langston Manor, for the duration of the Royal Ascot races to Valient, Earl of Trevarnon and his wild gentleman friends, lonely and innocent young Demelza is afraid.Although married to a woman who has lost her mind and is in an asylum, Trevarnon is a well-known 'ladies' man' – and, for her own safety and modesty, Demelza agrees to hide among The Manor's maze of secret passages. As she watches, though, through the old house's ancient peepholes, she sees another, very different, side to the notorious Nobleman.Suddenly one moonlit night, under a honeysuckle arbour, Demelza realises that she has lost her heart utterly to this dashing stranger. But her love is wrong.Valient Trevarnon can never, ever be hers! Then, when she secretly foils a sinister plot against her beloved, she triggers a chain of events and an overwhelming passion far beyond her control – and perhaps now she dares to hope for her heart's...

Wenda has struggled alone to keep the family's crumbling ancestral home, Creswell Court, going. Her brother, Robbie, now Lord Creswell, is spending his time in London where he is a great success in Society and with the Prince of Wales and thebeautiful ladies who surround him. The Prince has suffered from not being allowed by Queen Victoria to take any part in ruling the country and in compensation he goes from one attractive woman to another. He especially enjoys secret weekend house parties at his friends' country houses – usually a party of ten and each gentleman brings with him a lady of his choice.To Robbie's consternation the Prince of Wales suggests he should visit Creswell Court where he had heard the pictures are outstanding. Robbie is horrified, but he cannot refuse and so he rushes home to tell Wenda that the Prince is to be theirguest for a Royal house party. Wenda asks the obvious question as to how they can afford it and to her alarm Robbie takes...

After Della had been orphaned she came to live in the country with her uncle, Lord Lainden, who rented a delightful house on the estate of his great friend the Duke of Marchwood.She was blissfully happy with her uncle and rode the Duke's horses every day. But a cloud was gathering on the horizon in the form of Jason, the Duke's only son and heir.Jason had returned to his ancestral home having led a very dissolute life in Paris and his father was desperate for him to settle down, make a good marriage and continue the Ducal line.The Duke was determined that Jason should marry Della and used huge pressure on her and her uncle to gain his wish. She was repulsed by Jason and decided to run away with the friendly band of gypsies who were camped nearby so that she could think of a way out her dilemma.She disguised herself as a gypsy woman by dyeing her lovely blonde hair black and started to learn the gypsy art of fortunetelling.The gypsy caravans stopped on a welcoming...

Beautiful Aurora Hartnell is returning home to Hadleigh Hall for Christmas. Looking forward to seeing her elderly father Lord Hartnell again, she ruefully acknowledges that life in the country is likely to seem rather dull after the elegance of her Finishing School in fashionable Paris.Resigned to a quieter pace of life, she is therefore filled with anticipation when she hears that an eligible bachelor, Lord Moreton, has moved into nearby Elton Hall. Dreaming of an attractive stranger who will sweep her off her feet, Aurora is delighted when her father invites the mysterious Lord for dinner on Christmas EveSwept up in a frenzy of excitement, and determined to look her absolute best, Aurora is so caught up in romantic dreams she hardly notices that her intimidating stepmother, Lady Harntell, is behaving oddly. Hypercritical and quickly irritated, it seems that the only time Lady Hartnell smiles is when planning the impending dinner, which she insists must be perfect for...

Daughter of the Earl of Longwood, a gentleman gambler, and the Countess of Longwood, a society beauty, Lady Yolanda Wood has an exciting if unconventional childhood travelling around the casinos and racecourses of Europe. But life changes dramatically after the tragic death of her father, and she and her ravishing mother are left penniless and alone. In mourning for her husband, and dependent on the kindness of self-made millionaire Oliver Garrack, the Countess's gratitude swiftly turns to romance and Yolanda finds herself with a stepfather she neither likes nor respects. For several years Yolanda finds solace in her French Convent School but her world is rocked again when her mother suddenly dies, leaving her an orphan with only her stepfather to protect her from poverty and destitution. As fate forces them together, Yolanda begins to understand how much her stepfather worshipped her mother, and gains an insight into the workings of his clever brain. As her feelings change...

Sir Robin Dunstead returns from India after his father's death to find that he has inherited two of the largest ancestral houses in England, but no money to restore them. Amazed to find both houses empty of servants and in a state of disrepair he berates himself for not returning home earlier.Stunned to learn that his father has sold everything of value that is not entailed to future generations and squandered the family fortune on selfish pursuits, Robin is left with no income and not even enough money to buy food for himself and his lovely sister, Alena.In complete despair Robin commissions a forger to copy two lesser-known priceless paintings that are entailed for future generations and raise enough money to launch Alena and himself in society in the hope of attracting rich American's dazzled by her beauty and his title. Robin is adamant; they must both marry for money to save the family estate, forgetting any dreams of true love.Their plan seems set to work, until...