Shadow of Sin (eBook)

Barbara Cartland (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2019
298 Seiten
Barbara Cartland eBooks Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-78867-183-5 (ISBN)

Infos

It is bad enough that the beautiful Celesta Wroxley and her brother, Sir Giles, are alone after their mother had scandalously left their father and ran off with her lover to the disapproval and outrage of Society. To make matters worse Sir Giles has seriously gone off the rails in London, drinking heavily and gambling away what little money they have. And he has come heavily under the influence of the sinister Lord Crawthorne, who appears to be encouraging him to new excesses. To her horror Celesta finds that her brother has lost their delightful home, The Priory, at the gaming tables. And that their estate, including the Garden Cottage that they have made their home, are now owned by the mysterious Earl of Meltham. When she meets the new owner, it is not in the best of circumstances. He comes upon her in the estate peach house, where she is picking the fruit. Sardonically accusing her of stealing the handsome but cynical Nobleman forcefully takes her in his arms and kisses her. Celesta has never before been kissed and she hates the Earl for his arrogance. But, when Sir Giles ends up in the debtors' prison, the Earl saves the day in more ways than one and she starts to see him in a whole new light. Will this light of love finally bring Celesta out of the shadow of her mother's sin?

'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[...]' Excerpt From: Barbara Cartland. 'The Prude and the Prodigal.' iBooks.

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Chapter Two

“Your mother is very lovely,” the Earl commented after a moment’s pause.

As Celesta did not speak, he went on,

“I remember the gossip when she ran away with the Marquis of Heron. They were, and still are, very much in love.”

“We – loved her – too,” Celesta stammered.

The words seemed to be forced from her and there was a pain in them that was unmistakable.

“I can understand that,” the Earl remarked, “but I think your mother, like many women before her, felt the whole world was well lost for the man she loved.”

Still Celesta did not speak and after a moment he said,

“One day when you fall in love yourself, you will understand.”

“That is something I shall never do!” Celesta’s voice was sharp.

She walked back to the hearth to sit down opposite the Earl.

“That is – one of the reasons,” she said in a carefully controlled voice, “why I am begging your Lordship – to allow me to stay here with my Nanny.”

“For the rest of your life?” the Earl asked with a smile that she felt had something of mockery in it.

“For the rest of my life!”

“You cannot be serious!” the Earl exclaimed. “Surely when you realise that this is only a temporary unhappiness, if that is what you would call it, you will marry someone whom you love and will undoubtedly make him an admirable wife.”

“There is no reason why I should argue with your Lordship, but I assure you that I will never marry – and I will never fall in love!”

There was something passionate in her voice and the expression in her eyes was hard.

“I am sure that you are far too intelligent to say anything that time will later disprove,” the Earl replied.

Celesta made a little gesture of impatience and he went on,

“I can understand that it was hard for you as a child to understand your mother’s motives in creating a scandal and leaving your father. But, as an outsider, I can quite see that there must have been extenuating circumstances.”

“You need not explain them to me,” Celesta said firmly.

“Perhaps I am anxious to explain them to myself,” the Earl replied loftily. “For instance I have known the Marquis of Heron since I was a boy, although he is older than I am. He has, as you very likely know, a wife who is incurably insane. That is the reason why your mother and he have not been able to marry following your father s death.”

Celesta turned her face towards the empty hearth as if she did not wish to hear what was being said.

However the Earl continued relentlessly,

“I believe there was a wide difference between the ages of your father and mother. How old was your father when he died?”

“He was – sixty-seven,” Celesta answered reluctantly.

“One should never ask a lady’s age,” the Earl said with a faint twist of his lips, but I am sure that I will not be far out in my calculations if I presume that your father was at least twenty-five years older than your mother.”

“They were married – and they were happy!”

Celesta spoke almost like a child who has been goaded into an argument.

“Happiness does not always mean that two people are passionately in love,” the Earl observed, “and love, let me tell you, is for some people both a rapture and an overwhelming force that is irresistible.”

“You are making excuses for Mama. I don’t know why you should do so unless you are prepared to condone the behaviour of the man – who enticed her away from her home.”

“I can understand that you miss her,” the Earl said gently.

“I don’t miss her now, but I want you to understand that I will never allow myself to be inveigled into behaving as Mama behaved, making other people unhappy and allowing outsiders to sneer and laugh at me.”

She spoke vehemently and then looked across the hearth at the Earl and finished,

“That is why I want your Lordship to believe me when I say that – if you allow me to stay here on your property, it will be for life.”

“Under the circumstances it appears I have little alternative,” the Earl commented.

“Then Nana and I may – stay?”

“If it pleases you.”

He rose to his feet.

“As you know already, I never give without wishing to take. Therefore in return for my assurance that you may remain at the Garden Cottage, I ask one favour.”

He saw Celesta’s eyes widen a little apprehensively.

He waited a moment as if he wished her to be a little fearful before he went on,

“It is simply that you dine with me tonight.”

“Dine with – you?” Celesta questioned.

“There is a great deal of history about The Priory that I would wish to know. I feel that you are the right person to recount to me the legends of the past and to tell me the whereabouts of the secret passages and Priest Holes, of which I believe there are quite a number.”

“How should you know that there are any?” Celesta asked him.

“Because I have already been told that they are known only to each successive owner of The Priory and his immediate family.”

“There have been Wroxleys at The Priory – for the last five hundred years,” Celesta stressed proudly.

“And now it belongs to me,” the Earl retorted.

“To you it is only a plaything – a place where you can stay because it is convenient. It means nothing! It is not and never will be your – home.”

Even as she spoke, Celesta felt that she sounded rude.

The Earl merely appeared amused, but he struck back,

“First you hate your mother and now you hate me! And yet I think with a face like yours and with such soft sweet lips, you were made for love.”

He saw the anger in Celesta’s eyes and the colour that came into her cheeks, but before she could speak he turned towards the door.

“I will send a carriage for you at seven o’clock,” he said and went from the room with the same lazy grace and air of languor he had entered it in.

He found Nana waiting in the hall.

“I shall expect Miss Celesta to dine with me this evening,” he told her. “It is important that I talk to her on various matters appertaining to her future.”

“I’ll see she’s ready, my Lord.”

Nana closed the front door behind him and went back into the sitting room.

Celesta was standing at the window looking out into the garden, her hands clenched.

“I hate him, Nana! I hate him and yet we have to be beholden to him.”

“He will let us stay?”

 “He says so – but he is insufferably arrogant, overbearing and domineering. He has no right to speak to me – as he has.”

“What has he said to you?” Nana asked her quickly.

“He tried to excuse – Mama.”

She did not see the relief on the old Nanny’s face.

“Why did you talk to him about her Ladyship?” Nana asked after a moment. “You know it always upsets you.”

“He said she is – still very – happy.”

“And why not indeed? His Lordship was a fine gentleman, even if what he did was wrong and a sin against the Commandments.”

“Are you also excusing her?” Celesta asked. “Oh, Nana, how – can you?”

“I’m not makin’ excuses for her Ladyship,” Nana parried stoutly. “What she did was wicked, a grievous sin. But it will do no good for you to go tearin’ your heart out and that’s a fact. What’s done is done!”

Celesta drew a deep breath.

“The Earl made me tell him why I have no friends and why there is no one who I could stay with.”

“Much better know the truth from the very beginnin’,” Nana said in a practical voice. “If he wants to come and live in this bigoted neighbourhood, he’ll soon find out that people look down their noses at the goings-on in London. Still, like as not they’ll accept him because he’s a man and an Earl!”

“Just as after Mama ran away, they accepted Giles. I was the one who was not good enough to enter their homes.”

There was no bitterness in her voice now as there had been when she had spoken to the Earl, but rather the pain of someone who had been hurt almost intolerably.

Even now after four years Celesta remembered all too vividly how bewildered and stunned she had been when the friends she had known since childhood deliberately ostracised her.

Her father had been completely unaffected because he disliked Society anyway and had for some years refused all invitations.

He had been in ill health since he had had a riding accident when he was fifty.

It had affected the muscles in his back and, as the years went by, he was almost continually in pain. .

It made him at times querulous and disagreeable and it also made him dislike having to entertain or be entertained.

They had therefore lived a very quiet life at The Priory, but Celesta had realised that her mother had made a great effort where she and Giles were concerned to see that they had companions of their own age.

She remembered children’s parties that they had driven miles to. There had been parties too at The Priory with picnics in the summer and games and dancing in the winter.

Now the Earl’s remark about the disparity between the ages of her parents made her realise, as if for the first time, that her mother might have found such an existence dull.

The only interest Lady Wroxley had besides looking after her husband and children was that she loved riding.

Sometimes she would go hunting in the winter, but at all times of the year there was seldom a day when she did not ride in the morning for perhaps two...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.5.2019
• Reihe/Serie: The Eternal Collection
• Reihe/Serie: The Eternal Collection
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Historische Romane
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Schlagworte: Coronation of George IV • Fleet Street • Queen Caroline • Queen Victoria • Royal George
• ISBN-10: 1-78867-183-X / 178867183X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-78867-183-5 / 9781788671835