Part of Series
Kistna straightened herself and turned to look at the water beneath her. With a shock of sheer horror the Marquis realized what she intended to do. He reached her in a few strides and when he was beside her and his hands went out to take hold of her, she gave a little cry. “No…no! Go…away! Leave me alone…you are not to…stop me!” The Marquis’s arms tightened about her. “Why should you want to do anything so crazy and so utterly and completely mad?” As if she knew any further struggle would be futile, she suddenly went limp and her head rested against his shoulder. As he looked down at her, he could see the unhappiness in her eyes and the tear stains on her cheeks. She had changed and become very different from the miserable starving creature who he had thought at first was so ugly. Now she had a beauty that was different from anything he had seen in any other woman and as he felt her trembling, he knew that never before in his whole life had he felt as he was feeling now. Her eyes looked into his, and in a broken little voice she whispered: “I…I…love you…I…cannot…help it…I love…you.”
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.
