“I will bear that in mind,” the Marquis said quietly, “and I shall know who will help me.”
He saw that was what they wanted to hear.
They pulled the last remaining bits of camouflage from their backs and then they set off laughing happily across the fields in the direction of The Hall.
The Marquis looked at Yates, who said,
“I ain’t enjoyed meself so much since we were in France, my Lord. That’s the end of Mr. Terence and very good riddance!”
“I agree with you,” the Marquis answered, “but it would be a great mistake for anyone else to know what has happened.”
“Mum’s the word!” Yates said. “You can trust me, as you well knows. I’ll go now and fetch the carriage from where I ’id it behind them trees.”
He pointed in the distance and the Marquis said,
“Thank you, Yates, and do hurry! As you can see, I am very wet.”
“I puts a change of clothes in the carriage, my Lord,” Yates replied, “and I’ll ’ave it ’ere afore you can say ‘Jack Robinson’!”
As Yates started to run off towards the trees, the Marquis sighed.
Then he turned towards the stairs.
Before he could start to climb them, Christina came hurrying down.
“Wh-what has – happened? Where has – everybody – gone?” she asked.
The Marquis put his arms around her.
“It is all over, my darling,” he said, “and I promise you – such a thing will never happen again.”
“I was – listening,” Christina said, “and I think I heard – someone say that your – cousin Terence was – in the – whirlpool.”
“You must forget what you heard and what has occurred here today,” the Marquis answered. “As I have already said, this will never happen again, and we do not want anyone to know or to talk about it.”
“No – No – of course not,” Christina agreed, “and – you are safe – you are – really safe!”
“Thanks to you,” the Marquis said gently, “and now, my precious, we can go back to Melverley Hall and decide how quickly we can be married.”
Christina stared at him.
“M-married?”
The Marquis smiled.
“I love you, my wonderful one and I think you love me.”
He pulled her close to him and she said,
“I-I love you – I adore you – but I never thought that you would – love me. How can you – want to – m-marry me?”
“Very easily,” the Marquis answered, “because when I thought that I had lost you, I knew that I had lost my most treasured possession.”
As he finished speaking, his lips were on hers.
His kiss was urgent, possessive and passionate.
Christina realised that he was telling her without words how afraid he had been of losing her.
She felt as if the Heavens had opened and the angels were all singing.
How could it be possible that she was in the Marquis’s arms and he was kissing her?
And yet he was!
“I love you – I love – you,” she whispered again.
“And I adore you,” the Marquis answered, and his voice was very deep. “You are mine, Christina, and I will never, never lose you!”
It seemed only a few minutes before Yates arrived back with the carriage.
He tied the horses to some railings so they could not move away and he carried some dry clothes and went with the Marquis to the room above to help him change.
It was not long before they came down again.
The Marquis was now looking as he always did, extremely smart and very handsome.
Christina said shyly,
“Now I feel – embarrassed – in only my – dressing gown.”
“You look adorable,” the Marquis insisted firmly, “and I had no idea when I thought you were a ghost that your hair was so long.”
She blushed and he added,
“Could anyone look more like the Princess in a Fairy tale?”
She looked shy and he continued,
“Perhaps I am the Black Knight who rescues you from the dragon.”
“Not the Black Knight!” Christina protested, “but St. Christopher himself! You swam across – the river to rescue me! And I still – cannot believe that you – climbed up the mill to reach me!”
The Marquis laughed and helped her into the carriage, which was closed, as he sat down beside her.
Yates, who was driving, started the horses and, as they moved off, the Marquis said,
“How can you have been so ingenious in the way that you told me where you were?”
“D-did you – know as – soon as you – read my m-message that I was – imprisoned in the old mill?”
The Marquis’s eyes twinkled.
“I cannot take all the credit for that,” he said. “It was in fact Miss Dickson and your Nanny who solved it when you said that you were ‘praying to St. Christopher’.”
“And he – did save me,” Christina whispered. “I prayed very – hard that he would – tell you where I – was.”
The Marquis pulled her into his arms.
“I don’t want to think how frightened I was that my mad cousin Terence would harm you, my darling.”
“And you are – really sure that – you love me?” Christina asked him.
“So very sure, not only that I love you but I cannot live without you,” the Marquis answered. “We have so much to do, my darling, that the sooner we are married and start working together, the happier we can make all those who depend upon us.”
Christina put up her hand to touch his face very tenderly.
“I-I find it – difficult to believe that you are – real,” she said. “Are you certain that – if you m-marry me you will not – be bored and want to go back – to London and be with the – beautiful ladies there instead of – staying here at Melverley Hall?”
The Marquis knew that the question was a very important one and said quietly,
“Of course, my precious, there have been ‘beautiful ladies’, as you call them, in my life, but I now know that until this moment I was never truly in love. It was when I thought that I had lost you that I knew there was something different between us, something I have never felt before for any other woman.”
“Wh-what – can that be?” Christina whispered.
“It is that my heart beats in tune with your heart,” the Marquis smiled. “My soul speaks to your soul and I respond to you, my precious, in a way I have never done before with any other woman.”
Christina gave a little cry.
“Oh – is that true – really true?”
“You know I would not lie to you,” the Marquis said. “It is true and my lovely little Fairy Princess, because you are the other part of me and I am the other part of you, we will love each other for ever and ever.”
“That is – how I have – always wanted to be loved,” Christina was trying to say.
But it was impossible to speak because the Marquis was kissing her again.
Once more the angels were singing and the Heaven which God has created especially for lovers was waiting for them.
OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
The Barbara Cartland Eternal Collection is the unique opportunity to collect as ebooks all five hundred of the timeless beautiful romantic novels written by the world’s most celebrated and enduring romantic author.
Named the Eternal Collection because Barbara’s inspiring stories of pure love, just the same as love itself, the books will be published on the internet at the rate of four titles per month until all five hundred are available.
The Eternal Collection, classic pure romance available worldwide for all time .
Elizabethan Lover
The Little Pretender
A Ghost in Monte Carlo
A Duel of Hearts
The Saint and the Sinner
The Penniless Peer
The Proud Princess
The Dare-De
vil Duke
Diona and a Dalmatian
A Shaft of Sunlight
Lies for Love
Love and Lucia
Love and the Loathsome Leopard
Beauty or Brains
The Temptation of Torilla
The Goddess and the Gaiety Girl
Fragrant Flower
Look Listen and Love
The Duke and the Preacher’s Daughter
A Kiss for the King
The Mysterious Maid-servant
Lucky Logan Finds Love
The Wings of Ecstacy
Mission to Monte Carlo
Revenge of the Heart
The Unbreakable Spell
Never Laugh at Love
Bride to a Brigand
Lucifer and the Angel
Journey to a Star
Solita and the Spies
The Chieftain Without a Heart
No Escape from Love
Dollars for the duke
Pure and Untouched
Secrets
Fire in the Blood
Love, Lies and Marriage
The Ghost who Fell in Love
Hungry for Love
The Wild Cry of Love
The Blue-eyed Witch
The Punishment of a Vixen
The Secret of the Glen
Bride to the King
For All Eternity
King in Love
A Marriage made in Heaven
Who can deny Love?
Riding to the Moon
Wish for Love
Dancing on a Rainbow
Gypsy Magic
Love in the Clouds
Count the Stars
White Lilac
Too Precious to Lose
The Devil Defeated
An Angel Runs Away
The Duchess Disappeared
The Pretty Horse-breakers
The Prisoner of Love
Ola and the Sea Wolf
The Castle made for Love
A Heart is Stolen
The Love Pirate
As Eagles Fly
The Magic of Love
Love Leaves at Midnight
A Witch’s Spell
Love Comes West
The Impetuous Duchess
A Tangled Web
Love lifts the Curse
Saved By A Saint
Love is Dangerous
THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND
Barbara Cartland, who sadly died in May 2000 at the grand age of ninety eight, remains one of the world’s most famous romantic novelists. With worldwide sales of over one billion, her outstanding 723 books have been translated into thirty six different languages, to be enjoyed by readers of romance globally.
Writing her first book ‘Jigsaw’ at the age of 21, Barbara became an immediate bestseller. Building upon this initial success, she wrote continuously throughout her life, producing bestsellers for an astonishing 76 years. In addition to Barbara Cartland’s legion of fans in the UK and across Europe, her books have always been immensely popular in the USA. In 1976 she achieved the unprecedented feat of having books at numbers 1 & 2 in the prestigious B. Dalton Bookseller bestsellers list.
Although she is often referred to as the ‘Queen of Romance’, Barbara Cartland also wrote several historical biographies, six autobiographies and numerous theatrical plays as well as books on life, love, health and cookery. Becoming one of Britain’s most popular media personalities and dressed in her trademark pink, Barbara spoke on radio and television about social and political issues, as well as making many public appearances.
In 1991 she became a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to literature and her work for humanitarian and charitable causes.
Known for her glamour, style, and vitality Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime. Best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels and loved by millions of readers worldwide, her books remain treasured for their heroic heroes, plucky heroines and traditional values. But above all, it was Barbara Cartland’s overriding belief in the positive power of love to help, heal and improve the quality of life for everyone that made her truly unique.
Saved By A Saint
Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland Ebooks Ltd
This edition © 2013
Copyright Cartland Promotions 1995
eBook conversion by M-Y Books
Saved By A Saint Page 11