Showing results by narrator "Anthony Wren" in All Categories

Venetia was very lonely after the death of her parents. So when her cousin Mary begged her to help to save her from a forced marriage, Venetia was ready. Mary was in love with another man and expecting his child. Yet the Queen wanted her to marry the Earl of Mountwood at a moment's notice and go with him to India. A reckless impulse made Venetia promise to take Mary's place at the altar. She would worry about the consequences later.

The Duke of Norlington and his sister Lady Latasha are living quietly in the country very happily with their horses. The Duke receives a letter from an old Oxford friend who is now His Royal Highness Prince Kraus of Oldessa, a small Principality in the Balkans. The Prince asks the Duke if his sister would consent to marry his brother, Prince Stephan, as she is related to the Royal family, thereby giving Oldessa British protection from the Russians who are vying to take over as many States as they can in the Balkans.

The handsome Viscount Trent finally makes up his mind to accede to the pleadings of his family and get married. He is twenty-seven and for a long time they have been begging him to take a wife and produce an heir to his illustrious title, his famous stately home and his vast estate. On the whole he finds debutantes extremely boring and has enjoyed a number of affaires-de-coeur with older married women. However there is one girl, Marigold Marlow, he considers outstanding and she is the acknowledged great beauty of the Season.

A bearded and dishevelled figure in the tattered dress of a Muslim Holy Man struggled to a Fort in India and saves it from attack by tribesmen supported by the Russians. The Holy man is Captain David Ingle, one of the members of The Great Game. In a week or so David arrives back in Calcutta and is sent for immediately by the Viceroy, who tells him he has done wonderful service for his country. At the same time his life is in danger from the Russians and, more important his grandfather, the Marquis of Inglestone, has died in an accident and the family title and estate is now his.

When Rena's father dies she is alone in the world, forced out of the vicarage that has been her home, with nowhere to go and no money. She seeks help at the large wooden cross standing in the nearby grounds of "The Grange". And there in the earth she finds three golden coins, which she hands over to the new young Earl of Lansdale. They form a friendship, the sweetest one of her life. But her new happiness is threatened by Mr. Wyngate, a wealthy man determined to force the Earl to marry his daughter.

When Lord Rupert Brooke and his wife are killed in an accident, their only child, Titania, was forced to live with her uncle, the Duke of Starbrooke, who had Titania is broken-hearted leaving behind her horse which she adores and her Nanny who is the only person who really loves her. When she reaches Velidos, the King, who is the half-brother of Prince Frederick, finds her in tears and does his best to comfort her.

Lady Lolita Vernon, daughter of the late Earl of Walcott and Vernon, has run away. Her stepfather, Ralph Piran, is forcing her to accept the attentions and perhaps an offer of marriage from his business partner, Murdock Tanner, who is very rich but old and repulsive. While she is trying to cover her tracks in London she bumps into a small boy, Simon, who is weeping because he has been beaten cruelly by his stepmother.

Robert Lyndon, heir apparent to a dukedom and newly spurned lover is desperate to save face amongst the young dandies and court ladies of Regency London society. Handsome, wealthy and decorated for his bravery Robert is recognised as one of the most eligible bachelors in Society. Yet despite his success with the ladies, it seems that he cannot find the perfect wife. Beautiful Rania Temple is living in impoverished gentility in the country. Away from the fashions and trends of the city, she is devoted to her family home and much loved horses.

She was fleeing from an unwelcome marriage and so was he. When Selina sought shelter with the Marquis of Castleton, she never dreamed that it would lead to them being chased across Europe in a powerful yacht. Before long she was embroiled in a rollicking adventure. Dressed as a man to avoid detection, Selina fell into one scrape after another, yet always knowing that the Marquis would rescue her. But she was despairingly sure that he saw her only as a child and she was beginning to long for more.

When the Duke of Barningforde was told by his second son, Alastair, that he had married an actress in Paris without his approval, he exiled Alastair from England with only a very small allowance. His wife, Grace, actually came from a good Scottish family and was not an actress, but had a very fine soprano voice and sang with a famous French orchestra. But the Duke would not listen and Alastair and Grace never again set foot in their homeland.

Viola Brookfield has not a care in the world until the awful day when her parents are tragically killed in a road accident, leaving her all alone in the world. So when her Aunt Mary, Lady Wakefield, writes to invite her to come and live with her in India, Viola decides to accept. But when she arrives, she finds a country fraught with unexpected dangers and that her uncle, Lord Wakefield, behaves as if she is not welcome. Viola's life is further complicated when she meets the handsome but enigmatic Earl of Devonport.

Carina was alone in the world and unsure of what the future held for her. Then a troupe of musicians, called "Bertie's Beauties", had an accident outside her gates and she found herself swept up in their fate as she took over from their injured pianist. Now one of the troupe, she went to perform at the Duke of Westbury's castle, never suspecting that the Duke would turn out to be the young man she had met for a few dramatic moments many years before. To hide her identity she allowed him to see her only when she was masked.

"How could you, Mama? Papa has not even been dead a year!" When the beautiful Lucia Mountford's mother remarries less than a year after her father's death on the Titanic, she is shocked when the family's fortunes suddenly go into rapid decline and her mother becomes ill. Deeply in debt, her stepfather borrows a considerable sum of money from the handsome but roguish Lord Winterton.

The Marquis and Marquise de Castillon, together with their young son Jean-Pierre, were forced to flee France for England when the French Revolution broke out in 1789. Jean-Pierre was educated at Eton and only returned to Paris when Napoleon came to power. It was not long before he joined Napoleon's Army, survived the Retreat from Moscow and was badly wounded at the Battle of Waterloo. Whilst in hospital, he became friends with Colonel Hubert Dawlish who was in the next bed.

The Earl of Cariston is faced with insuperable problems as he has completely run out of money. He has sold everything on his estate that he can, but even so there is nothing he can do to support those who rely on him and they are on the verge of starvation. In desperation he calls into his Club to find an old friend, Lord Shield, and tells him all his woes. Lord Shield is in a bad way himself, but does suggest that he visits a certain Mr. Randon who is temporarily in London and beg for his help.

When Shona became secretary to the Marquis of Chilworth, all she was told was that they were going abroad so that he could write a book. She never suspected the dark secret in his heart or the terrible thing he meant to do. As they travelled on, she learned more about the tragedy that drove him, and she faced the fact that she was falling in love with a man whose heart was in the grave. Haunted by memories of his dead wife, the Marquis tried to shut out the possibility of a new love.

Some girls can wait a lifetime for one man to fall in love with them, but Selena Norton is so pretty that every man she meets is promptly smitten. Selena longs for someone to see past her beautiful face and appreciate the intelligent, loyal, fun girl inside. Rescued by the chivalrous, but penniless, Earl of Wakefield from the lecherous clutches of yet another unwanted suitor, Lord Tavener, Selena is delighted to finally meet a man who seems to seek only friendship. Selena cannot believe the joy that the Earl has bought into her life.

Lord Waincliffe breaks his horse’s bridle out one day and calls at the nearest house for help so that he can ride home in safety. It belongs to Terence Stourton, a Professor of Literature, and he meets his daughter, Rosetta, who repairs the bridle for him. Not only does he think that Rosetta is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, but he feels there is something unusual about her. Only when he returns home, does he realise that she bears an extraordinary resemblance to his sister, Dolina.

Can money buy you happiness? Impoverished Lady Viola and her twin brother David Northcombe find that their fortunes change dramatically when their entrepreneurial father dies unexpectedly, leaving them a vast fortune that will change their lives forever. Returning home to England, still reeling from their dramatic change in circumstances, fate seems to have smiled on them when the handsome, but impoverished, Duke of Glentorran dramatically rescues them from the perils of the sea off the coast of Scotland. Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime.

Hugo, Earl of Ruven, is sailing home after ten years in India, where he served with his regiment. His grandfather, the old Earl, has died and Hugo has inherited the title and estate of Castle Ruven. He has also inherited his late brother's fiancee, Felice de Lisle. No one who sees the handsome man standing at the rail with his face turned toward the approaching coast suspects the truth. During one of the first battles of the Indian Mutiny, Hugo was severely injured. The new Earl of Ruven is returning home blind.