The Marquis of Whisinford and his friend Lord Alfred Middleton meet at WhiteÕs Club and tell each other how bored they are with the London Season and the same parties with the same people night after night.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ They commiserate with each other for finding life so repetitive where nothing new ever happens.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Listening to them, the old Duke of Dunstead tells them that he has a solution to their problem and so he bets one of his well bred horses against one of theirs that, if they go out disguised as ordinary men, they will undoubtedly find an adventure of some kind on the open road.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Because it is a bet and betting at WhiteÕs is traditional, the Marquis agrees to ride North as far as Northumberland disguised as an ordinary man, while Lord Alfred is to go South to LandÕs End.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The Marquis sets off alone, his only possessions being what he can carry on his horse, Samson, using the name of Neil Barlow.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ But he has not gone very far when a very pretty girl joins him on the road in a state of agitation and asks him if he will be kind enough to allow her to ride beside him.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ She explains that she is running away from her stepfather who is forcing her into marriage with a man she loathes and detests.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ She tells the Marquis that her name is Velina, but does not say anymore and he tells her only his Christian name and they ride on until they reach what appears to be a quiet inn.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ After dinner, when the Marquis goes out to see if their horses are happy, he overhears three men talking and learns that they have been sent by VelinaÕs stepfather to kidnap her and take her forcibly back to her home.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The Marquis alerts Velina and they slip away at four oÕclock in the morning before anyone else is awake and it is then that the Marquis suggests that they should stay off the main road and travel North by the twisting lanes of England.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ How they encounter even more dramas than they have already.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ How they rescue a small boy and his dog from a cruel drunkard.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ How eventually Velina saves the MarquisÕs horse and him from a highwayman and how they find even more on a road to romance, is all told in this exciting story by BARBARA CARTLAND.Ê

The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Earl Granville travels to Windsor Castle for an audience with Queen Victoria.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ He had been asked by Count Yuri Unkar of Samosia, a small but significant country in the Balkans if an English bride of Royal Blood could be found to marry Prince Ivor and thus ensure the countryÕs protection of Great Britain and the Union Jack.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Queen Victoria had already sent many of her relations to sit on thrones to protect the Balkans from invasion by the Russians, who were intent on expanding their Empire at the expense of many small States.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊThis time Queen Victoria could think of no one as she was rapidly running out of suitable relatives.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ However, Earl Granville had been awake all night thinking of solutions to the problem and then he remembered. Prince Vladimir a cousin of the Queen.Ê He had married a woman who played the piano in public, which was not considered correct for a Prince of Royal Blood.Ê They had been banished from London and had gone to live in a small village in Devon and then forgotten.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Earl Granville leaves immediately to see Prince Vladimir to ask if his beautiful daughter Linetta would go to the Balkans as bride to Prince Ivor.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Linetta finally agrees but only on the condition that she could get to know the Prince first and if she did not like him then she would return home to her beloved parents.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ She plans to go to Samosa as a Governess to the CountÕs children and in that way would meet the Prince without him realising who she was.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ How they met for the first time when Prince Ivor heard Linetta playing the piano as beautifully as her mother had taught her.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ How Linetta saved the PrinceÕs life by her quick reactions.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ And how she finds the love of her life through the beauty of herself and her ethereal music is all told in this exciting and romantic novel by BARBARA CARTLAND.Ê

On a hot summer's day in 1880 the beautiful Lady Rosella is cutting a basket of blooms in her beloved Rose Garden at her aunt's house in Hampshire. It is her seventeenth birthday and no one remembers it except for Thomas, the gardener's boy. Later she is driven to Winchester and has an unpleasant encounter with two raucous gentlemen in the local tavern before going on to fit her first ball gown that her aunt has given her the money for just before she died. But who is the lovely masked woman she glimpses in the mirror at the dress-makers, a glorious vision clad in rose-pink silk? And who is the dark figure approaching through the shadows of a dim and ghostly ballroom? Before she will discover the answers to these questions and to escape marriage to a most unpleasant companion of her uncle's, Rosella must travel many miles to the glorious City of Venice accompanied by Pickle an extremely talkative and colourful parrot. She has left behind everything dear to her and when a mysterious stranger appears in Venice, Rosella believes that he may be the love she has so often dreamed about. This love will bring her pain and passion beyond anything she could ever have imagined. But her hopes are in ruins when she discovers the mysterious stranger to be the son of her arch enemy and once again she must flee. Will Rosella and her true love ever be reconciled - or will the Fates conspire to keep them apart forever? Find out in this thrilling new romance by Barbara Cartland, the one hundredth title in the Barbara Cartland Pink Collection.

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 that when she does marry it will be for love and only love, so to avoid a forced marraige she runs away from her home to her cousin, Prince Johann II of Liechtenstein, who has always been very fond of her.

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 Honourable Richard Brooke, the younger son of the Earl of Grandbrooke becomes a close friend of Prince Ivan of Karlova.The Prince however does not use his title as he is incognito. He is therefore known as Ivan Sazon.As is usual in Aristocratic families, Richard, as the second son is ordained and is then appointed to a Parish in Oxford. Prince Ivan is often at his house and it was not long before he falls in love with Richard's sister Elizabeth, who is very beautiful.They marry and are very happy for six years and have one child, whom they christen Tarena.Unexpectedly Ivan is called back to Karlova because his father, the King, has died and he has to take his place. He also learns that he is expected to save Karlova and its adjacent country Dubnik from the Russians, who are determined to annex both countries.To do so he has to marry Princess Catrina of Dubnik. Shortly afterwards Elizabeth dies and Tarena goes to live with her Uncle Richard. Tarena is very happy with her uncle and takes her mother's place in tending the garden and helping in the Parish.Then King Ivan dies and it is a tremendous shock to Tarena to learn that she must go to Karlova, become Queen and marry Prince Igor of Dubnik.This will save Karlova from the Russians and she goes with Queen Victoria's blessing.Frightened but convinced that she must follow in her father's footsteps, Tarena travels to Karlova aboard a British Battleship accompanied by her uncle. How Tarena is taught the language of Karlova by the dashing Count Vladimir in charge of the Escort of Karlovan soldiers on board.And how she succeeds in astounding and defying the Russians, at the same time falling in love, is all told in this fast moving tale by BARBARA CARTLAND.