Golden Gondola (eBook)

Barbara Cartland (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018 | 1. Auflage
320 Seiten
Barbara Cartland eBooks Ltd (Verlag)
9781788670272 (ISBN)

Infos

The beautiful but innocent Paolina Mansfield almost loses her life when the ship that she is a passenger on is tragically wrecked in a storm off the coast of Italy. All aboard, including her father were lost, except just for herself and her handsome rescuer, Sir Harvey Drake, who is a descendant of the famous Sir Francis Drake himself. Already reduced to the point of penury by her father's addiction to endless gambling, Paolina now has nothing left in her life and no family or friends to come to her aid. But Sir Harvey, by his own admission a 'gentleman adventurer', devises a grand plan for her that would save them both, as he also has many financial problems of own in Endland. As Paolina is so beautiful and captivating, he intends to marry her off to a wealthy suitor in Italy and share the resulting riches with her. Presented to the highest echelons of Venice Society as his sister, Paolina's demure beauty instantly bewitches some of Venice's most illustrious and eligible gentlemen and she is overwhelmed by amorous approaches especially from the sinister and extremely rich Duke of Ferrara. Yet she is deeply unhappy. Because it seems that Paolina is condemned to marry someone she does not and cannot love and she has already lost her heart to her swashbuckling but penniless saviour.

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages. As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery. She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation. Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world. She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven. Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author. Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed. Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone's life.

Textauszug

Chapter 2

“An adventurer!”

Paolina echoed the words and then stared at Sir Harvey in amazement.

For the first time she noticed how good-looking he was – dark hair swept back from a sunburned face, grey eyes that, deep-set beneath winged eyebrows, seemed to be permanently twinkling as if the whole world amused him. He had a firm chin, and his mouth, which curved slightly up at the corners, had a hint of steel about it.

“Yes, I am an adventurer,” Sir Harvey repeated.

“But – I don’t understand,” Paolina insisted. “What does it mean?”

“It means, my dear,” he said with a smile, “that I live on what wits it has pleased God to give me. Sometimes I live well, at other times my wits fail me and I sink to an almost unendurable poverty. Yesterday was one of those times, but today everything is changed.”

Paolina’s smooth white brow wrinkled a little.

“But how can it have changed?” she said. “I must be very stupid, but it seems to me that you must have lost nearly everything you possessed in the storm, even as I have.”

Sir Harvey laughed.

“That is where my wits have been most obliging. That and the fact that I can swim, which, fortunately, these fishermen have never learned to do.”

“I don’t understand,” Paolina said.

“Then don’t try,” Sir Harvey responded. “But let me repeat that I will look after you. We will go to Venice together.”

“But I cannot batten on you like that,” Paolina protested. “If you will help me to find employment, then I shall be very grateful to you.”

“And what could anybody as beautiful as you do?” Sir Harvey asked.

She flushed a little at his words and looked up to meet his eyes. The blush grew deeper.

“I have the perfect solution for your problem,” Sir Harvey said as she did not speak. “You must get married!”

“It is easy to say that,” Paolina replied a little bitterly. “It is what my father used to say to me. But no one in this country wants a bride without a dowry. So it is not surprising that, during these years of flitting from one place to another, no suitor has made me what one might call an honest offer.”

“But doubtless there have been plenty of dishonest ones,” Sir Harvey smiled. “Don’t worry, my dear. I have told you that I will look after you.”

Paolina put out her hand and laid it on his arm.

“You are being kind,” she said. “I know that. And although I daresay it is wrong to confide in a stranger, I am telling you the truth. But you must tell me what you are suggesting I should do. It is frightening to be kept in the dark.”

Sir Harvey laid his hand over hers. His fingers were strong and warm and Paolina resisted a temptation to cling to him.

“It is all very simple,” he said quietly. “I am going to present you in Venice. You will meet the most influential and illustrious nobles. Venice is a City that appreciates beautiful women and one of them will undoubtedly offer you his hand in marriage.”

“Until he learns that I am nobody and that I have no money,” Paolina countered.

“He will not learn that until it is too late,” Sir Harvey answered. “It may be unnecessary for him ever to learn it. You will go to Venice as my sister.”

Paolina stared at him wide-eyed.

“Why?” she asked at length.

“Because, my dear, although I may be an adventurer, I come of a very decent family. The Drakes, dating back to my revered ancestor, Sir Francis Drake, are respected in Devon. The doors of Society will be open to me and where I go you will accompany me.”

“But – supposing – supposing they find out?” Paolina asked.

Sir Harvey shrugged his shoulders.

“There is no necessity to be fearful of that,” he said. “One has taken greater risks in one’s life. And besides, to put it bluntly, there is no other way that we can travel together.”

Paolina blushed again and her eyes fell before his. For a moment there was silence, but when she looked up at him again she found that he was still staring at her.

“In the right clothes you will be sensational,” he said reflectively. “Blues and greens will be your best colours, though sometimes a touch of pink is effective with golden hair.”

“How do you know all these things?” Paolina asked, bewildered.

“A rolling stone sometimes does gather moss,” he answered. “A year or so ago I lived in Paris. A very beautiful and very famous actress honoured me with her favours. She graced the stage as no other woman has ever managed to do before at the Comédie Française. She allowed me to accompany her when she chose her gowns. I learned a great deal of what is important if a woman would look her best.”

“How clever you are!” Paolina exclaimed.

“I am honoured that you think so,” Sir Harvey answered, and his eyes seemed to twinkle more merrily than usual as he added, “That is just the right tone of voice to speak to a man in. Admiration is, of course, the sincerest form of flattery!”

“You make it sound as if I was doing it for effect,” Paolina retorted a little petulantly.

“Don’t you understand that is exactly what you must do? My dear, you are already very lovely, but real beauty is a thing of art. I am going to take the raw material that God has given you and turn you into something so exquisite that a man will be prepared to pay any price for the privilege of possessing you.”

Paolina looked away from him to where the sea shimmered blue beneath the warmth of the sun.

“Will love have anything to do with it?” she asked in a very low voice.

“Love is something that invariably flies out of the window when poverty comes in at the door,” Sir Harvey answered and his voice was harsh. “For love one needs comfort, luxurious surroundings, soft music, perfumes, great wines and well-cooked food. When you have all those things, Paolina, you can think of love.”

She did not answer, but there was something in the sudden drooping of her shoulders and the wistfulness of her eyes that made him say,

“Don’t be afraid. I will not force you to marry someone who is repulsive to you. But once you have a rich and noble husband you will find that you have plenty of time on your hands to search for love.”

“I would wish that I could marry the man I loved or love the man I must marry,” Paolina said.

Sir Harvey threw back his head.

“You are asking too much. Like everyone else in the world you are greedy. Nature gives with one hand and she takes with the other. She has given you beauty, but no money to deck it in. She has endowed me with poverty, but has given me wits to make the most of every opportunity. We must be content with what we have. Dream your dreams if you must, little Paolina, but remember that wealth, security and a good position mean more in old age than all the heartbreaks of an unsubstantial love.”

“You are cynical,” Paolina accused him.

“I don’t think so,” Sir Harvey replied quite seriously. “It is just that I have loved so many women and found that sooner or later they all begin to pall on me. It is easy for a man in those circumstances to take up his hat and go. But for a woman she has only a few years in which she has something worthwhile to sell in exchange for a ring upon her finger.”

Paolina jumped to her feet.

“You are horrid!” she stormed. “Love is not like that. It is not cruel, hard and ugly and grasping greedily for payment. It is gentle, sweet and tender. And when it comes, then the world is well lost. Kisses cannot be calculated in cash. Nothing will make me believe otherwise. I-I will not – go with you.”

She stood trembling with the intensity of her feelings.

Sir Harvey rose slowly to his feet. Then he reached out his hands and held her by the shoulders.

“So fiery and all about nothing. If you will not come with me, what will become of you? Will you stay here? Your beauty will not last long if you work among the vines.”

“You are laughing at me,” Paolina said with a sudden sob in her voice.

“For your own good,” Sir Harvey replied. “You have got to awake from your dreams and face reality. Let’s be sensible about this. I have told you the truth, I have told you what I intend to do. If you will not accept it, then our ways must part.”

“Would you leave me here alone?” Paolina asked tremulously.

“I am afraid so,” he answered. “You see, as I have already told you, I am an adventurer and quite ruthless if people interfere or do not co-operate with me. I am going to Venice. I am prepared to take my sister with me, but I am not interested in encumbering myself with any other sort of relationship.”

Paolina shook herself free of his hands and stamped her foot.

“You are impossible,” she cried. “Do you think I am suggesting that I should go with you as – as – ”

Words failed her.

Sir Harvey laughed and put out his hand to lift her chin towards his.

“You grow lovelier every moment,” he said. “Even in a rage you are entrancing. But we must be rid of those badly made clothes and I cannot believe that the sun is good for your skin. Come back to the house. We will be able to leave in another hour.”

“You are quite sure that I will come with you, aren’t you?” Paolina asked.

He laughed again.

“You have little alternative,” he answered. “If you change your mind when we get to Ferrara, I can leave you there. Perhaps you would find enough sewing to keep body and soul together, but I cannot help feeling that, having once set eyes on, you the gentleman of...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.1.2018
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Historische Romane
• ISBN-13: 9781788670272 / 9781788670272