He could then marry Nadia immediately in the Chapel attached to the house without anybody except his mother being aware of it.
Later their marriage could be announced and their secrecy could be explained as being necessitated by his being in mourning.
Then they could entertain his relatives as he had promised them he would.
All that mattered at the moment was that Nadia should not be left alone and frightened either by day or by night.
He felt his heart give a leap of joy at the prospect as he said,
“Leave everything to me, my lovely one. There are no more problems to be solved, no more difficulties to seem insurmountable. All you have to do is to love me.”
“I do love you,” she said. “I love you so much – but are you – certain you are – wise to marry me? After all – there may be some way in which it might harm you to be married to a Russian who is – wanted by the – Secret Police.”
“Nothing can harm me, except that I might lose you,” he replied. “What I want you to do, my adorable one, is to forget all the horrors that have pursued you from Russia and remember that your mother was English.”
He laid his cheek against hers and said,
“We will find your mother’s relatives and I know they will make you feel very much at home and a part of England. You have not been able to enjoy this country until now, but it is my country and, as we are now one person, we will make it a home for ourselves and for our children.”
“That is what I want to do,” Nadia cried, “but I still cannot believe it is true that after so much misery and so much fear I really have come – home.”
“I will make you sure of it,” Warren said. “Oh, darling, I love you, and I swear that you will never be frightened or unhappy again.”
He kissed her until the room seemed to whirl round them.
Only when Warren raised his head were they aware that the sun was sinking outside in a blaze of glory and the rooks were going to roost.
“I love you!” he said again, and his voice was very deep.
“I thought you told me that you intended, if you really had to marry, to make a mariage de convenance as the French do!” Nadia whispered.
“I am marrying because I love you and I want you. The feelings I have for you are very different from anything I have ever known or imagined.”
“What do you – feel?”
“Very excited – very much in love – and something more.”
“What is – it?”
“I feel as if I have found the most precious treasure in the world which is so perfect, so unique that I will keep it and protect it for ever.”
“And – that is – me?”
She said the words wonderingly.
“You, my beautiful darling.”
Warren rose from the sofa and pulled her to her feet beside him.
“I am going to take you back to my mother,” he said, “and I want to tell her the truth, but nobody else. Then I am going to send my letter to the Archbishop and we will be married the day after tomorrow.”
He smiled before he went on,
“Then we will leave here ostensibly to visit the other properties which I have inherited, but really to spend our honeymoon together – alone.”
Nadia drew in her breath and whispered,
“That will be – wonderful.”
“We will go first to Devon where my house is very comfortable and very quiet and then we will go on to Leicestershire to look at – ”
Nadia gave a cry that interrupted him.
“You are doing – everything so quickly that I am – afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No, I could never be afraid of you,” she said, “only that you have not – thought it – over.”
“I have nothing to think over,” Warren replied firmly. “I am so lucky, the luckiest man in the whole world and all that really matters, my precious, is that we are alive, we are together and I am certainly not taking any more risks of losing you!”
He put his arms around her.
He did not say anything, but she knew he was thinking of the poison that Magnolia had tried to give her and of the men who had kidnapped her and hidden her in the slate mine.
And most of all, how he had saved her as she looked down into the Seine, meaning to take one fatal step into the darkness of oblivion.
“Three times I have been – saved,” she whispered, “and now – I belong to – you.”
“I will make sure of that,” Warren smiled. “Fate or God has given you to me and I never dreamt it was possible to own anyone so completely adorable.”
There was a passionate note in his voice that made Nadia move a little closer to him and lift her lips to his.
He looked at her before he said very softly,
“I will love you, adore you and worship you for the rest of our lives. Will that be enough?”
“It is the only thing I shall ever want,” Nadia whispered, “and I will love you until the world comes to an end and the stars fall from the sky!”
And then Warren was kissing her, kissing her demandingly, passionately, at the same time tenderly and she knew he was right.
She had finally come home.
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-Devil 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 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.
REVENGE
OF THE HEART
Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland Ebooks Ltd
This edition © 2012
Copyright © Cartland Promotions 1984
eBook conversion by M-Y Books
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