Part of Series
Arriving exhausted in Ampula, the Capital of the tiny nation of Kozan on the Black Sea, and carrying top secret information from India for the Viceroy, adventurer and British Secret Service agent Drogo Forde is in need of fresh air and decides to go for a walk in the City. To his amazement he encounters a beautiful young woman hanging perilously down a high wall from a rope. She calls to him for help and, Master of disguise though he is, Drogo can barely cover the fact that he is instantly smitten with her. With revolution in the air, the violent streets are no place for a young woman, so chivalrous Drogo escorts Thekla, for that is her name, to his rather sparse lodgings. To his amazement she reveals that she is none other than the daughter of the King. And since the revolutionaries have now stormed the Royal Palace and killed the King, he has no choice but to save her and take her with him on his dangerous mission. As love blossoms between them, despair fills Drogo’s heart. Having spent what little money he had on care and nursing for his dying mother, he cannot possibly marry his lovely young Princes and, with great anguish, he resolves to let her go.
Author
Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland was a English writer, during her long career, she wrote over 700 books, making her one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century. She sold over 1,000 million copies throughout the world, earning her a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The world's most famous romantic novelist, she also wrote autobiographies, biographies, health and cookery books, and stage plays and recorded an album of love songs. She was often billed as the Queen of Romance, and became one of the United Kingdom's most popular media personalities, appearing often at public events and on television, dressed in her trademark pink and discoursing on love, health and social issues. She started her writing career as a gossip columnist for the Daily Express. She published her first novel, Jigsaw, a society thriller, in 1923. It was a bestseller. She went on to write myriad novels and earn legions of fans, she also wrote under her married name Barbara McCorquodale. Some of her books were made into films. Ever the romantic, during WWII, she served as the Chief Lady Welfare Officer in Bedfordshire. She gathered as many wedding dresses as she could so that service brides would have a white gown to wear on their wedding day. She also campaigns for the rights of Gypsies, midwives and nurses. Barbara Cartland McCorquodale passed away on 21 May 2000, with 160 still unpublished manuscripts, that are being published posthumously.
