Showing results by narrator "Anthony Wren" in All Categories

There is nothing for it - we will have to marry for money! The Strathcarrons have lived in splendour in Lednock Castle in Scotland for many generations, but the family fall on hard times when their fortunes become depleted. An American guest, Larry Harwood, comes to stay and persuades the Earl of Strathcarron to travel to New York with him to make his fortune, leaving his wife, his son, Ewen and daughter, Moira, to the mercies of fate. Six months later the Earl returns a broken man, having lost the entire estate to the American's creditors.

Lady Novella Crownley has been teaching at a girl's school far from her ancestral home, Crownley Hall, and one day her mother asks her to return. She leaves at once only to find that so much has changed since her last visit home. Her beloved father, the Earl of Crownley, had died some years earlier, leaving her mother lonely and unable to cope on her own. Unknown to Novella her mother had remarried and the first time she met her new stepfather, Lord Buckton, she did like him at all.

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.

Heir to the throne of Valdina, beautiful Attila vows two things - to do everything in her power to return her beloved sick father, King Sigismund, to health and to find true love. But it seems that her stepmother, the scheming and selfish Queen Margit has other ideas for her future. Desperate to marry her as quickly as possible to Prince Otto, a young man with a shadowy past, Queen Margit's eyes are set firmly on the throne for herself. And it seems she will stop at nothing to get her own way and rule Valdina alone.

The beautiful Alvita who had lost both her parents, was living quietly in her family home in Southern Russia. Her father had been Russian and her mother had been English. Alvita was pleased to receive a visit from her brother, Ivor, but shocked when he told her that they must leave Russia immediately, as a Revolution was inevitable and would start very soon. He had brought with him his friend, Nicholas, who said that he would help them pack up as many of their treasures as they could and make their way to England. Alvita felt a little unsure of Nicholas, but thought that perhaps she might be mistaken.

The lovely red-haired eighteen year old Lady Viola Francis is orphaned. She and her fortune are in the power of her stepfather, the sinister Sir Rudolph Vane. Violas late father, the Earl of Galhampton, was passionately interested in motor cars and from an early age Viola worked with him on his engines. Now she wants to fulfil his ambition to build one that can be sold to the growing numbers of people keen to acquire this new and expensive form of transport. Sir Rudolph, however, has other plans for her and her fortune and wants her to marry the ineffectual Lord Carncross.

Sir John Gilmour has received a letter from his old friend Gavron Murillo, who lives in Paris to say that he only has a very short time to live and wants to see him urgently before he dies. Gavron, who was of Oriental appearance and a very rich man, had helped Sir John and his father with their finances when they had been almost on the point of bankruptcy and he had made them very wealthy. When Sir John arrives at Gavron’s bedside, the old man tells him that his dying wish is that he should marry his daughter, the beautiful Melita.

Eugenia Dovedale's father had been High Steward to the Marquis of Buckbury and after her father's unexpected death, Eugenia had to leave "Paragon" the family's beautiful and much loved cottage on the estate. She and her mother now lived uncomfortably with her Great-Aunt Cloris in London as they could not afford anywhere else. Mrs Dovedale maintained strong hopes of her daughter making a good marriage and improving their position.

The beautiful Vanessa Shotworth was being made extremely unhappy at the way she was being treated by her stepmother while her beloved father was away in India with his Regiment. When she was late for breakfast because she had been out riding on a lovely summer’s morning, she was humiliated by her stepmother by being told to scrub the kitchen floor or she will not be given anything to eat. Vanessa then decided to run away to her relatives in the North of England, having elicited the help of the faithful family butler, Bates.

The beautiful Aurora Hartnell has just left her Finishing School in Paris and returns home to Hadleigh Hall. It is Christmas Eve and she hears that an eligible bachelor, Lord Moreton, has moved into nearby Elton Hall. Aurora dreams that he is handsome, tall and exciting - until she meets him and finds that he is none of them. In no time Aurora has received an unwelcome proposal of marriage from Lord Moreton, but he appears to be strangely close to her intimidating stepmother, Lady Hartnell.

Francis, the Marquis of Wimborton needed an heiress. Lexia had money and her father wanted her to marry a Lord. But she was a spirited girl, raised in America and she wanted to choose her own husband. The Marquis was too proud to court her, especially as he believed her heart was given to Wayne Freeman, an American that her father had brought her to England to avoid. They unexpectedly became the best of friends, escaping together from family pressures and boarding a cruise liner in search of their dreams.

Beautiful Lady Lucilla Welton is all alone in the world, having lost both her parents in a tragic accident. She has nowhere to go and so she stays with her cruel and distant Aunt Maud, who wants to marry her off as soon as possible. An ardent suitor is at hand – the rich Texan, Harkness Jackson – but his proposal is not one Lucilla could ever contemplate. She has already met the only man who will ever find the key to her heart – but the handsome Marquis of Castlebury is enthralled by another and for him, Lucilla seems to be no more than a casual friend.

Elvina Carrisford, has known little love and affection in her life. She is invited to be a companion to her cousin Delphine, who is to be engaged to the nephew of a French Prince. En route to her new home she meets an enigmatic and handsome stranger, who rescues her from a wild blizzard and takes her to a nearby cottage. Here she and Serge, the stranger, sit out the storm. He turns out to be the valet to an aristocratic traveller.

The beautiful Ariana Dancer is orphaned and has led a cheerless life in London with her disagreeable Guardian, Uncle Konstantin Bardici. He has shown little interest in his niece and she has been left very much to her own devices. One day Uncle Konstantin suggests that Ariana marry an Albanian Prince - one who is seeking an English wife and who claims to have fallen in love with her portrait - and it does not take much to persuade her to agree.

The beautiful Belinda Lanwick has not attended the dinner party given by her cousin as she is still in mourning following the death of her beloved father. However, when the guests were leaving, she saw Lord Ian Cheddington and thought him exceedingly handsome. She knew that he was one of the most sought after young men in London and was considered the most eligible bachelor in the Social world. It is then that she overhears an indiscreet conversation between her cousin and a Countess.

The beautiful Lola Fenton lives happily in a small cottage in the depths of Worcestershire, but she is suddenly orphaned when her father and mother are killed in a railway crash. Her uncle, the Earl of Kencombe, comes to the funeral and then tells her that, as she has no money, she will have to come and live with him. He obviously has no wish for her to do so, but feels that it is his duty as her legal Guardian.

King Martiza of Salamos has fallen asleep when he suddenly becomes aware that something is moving in his room. To his astonishment he finds that it is Princess Veria who has come for his Coronation which is to take place the very next day. She, as her father has died, is now ruling the State of Kavolana which is a smaller Balkan country bordering on his.

Prince Serge of Tamrush, who himself had been sent a bride by Queen Victoria to save his Principality from invasion by the Russians, was now being asked by Prince Igor of Dubrik for the hand of his beautiful daughter Lavinia for the same reason. He decided not to tell Lavinia of Prince Igor’s request until after her birthday party. It was on that occasion she would meet Prince Igor for the first time and her father hoped that they would be attracted to each other.

The Duke of Laverdale is ambitious to be appointed Master of the Horse and the new Queen Adelaide is determined that behaviour at Court should be moral after the licentiousness of King George IV. The Duke therefore ends his affaire de coeur with the enchanting Lady Sybil Mersham and drops his ballet dancer mistress as well. Up to now he has been determined not to be married, but he now decides to become respectable and find a suitable bride as befits his standing.

Princess Zelda of Brienz in Switzerland is being harassed by her father to marry a King or Prince of one of the small countries of Europe. Zelda is very beautiful and determined when she does marry it will be for love and only love and she cannot possibly fall in love with any of her father’s suitors. She runs away from her home to her cousin, Prince Johann II of Liechtenstein, who has always been very fond of her. She tells him that she is determined to find out the truth about a scandal that has been repeated ever since she was born.