Read Hide and Seek for Love Online

Authors: Barbara Cartland

Hide and Seek for Love

HIDE AND SEEK FOR LOVE

BARBARA CARTLAND

www.barbaracartland.com

Copyright © 2010 by Cartland Promotions
First published on the Internet in June 2010

ISBNs

978-1-908411-37-2 Epub 

978-1-908411-38-9 Prc

978-1-908411-39-6 Pdf

The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval, without the prior permission in writing from the publisher.

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HIDE AND SEEK
FOR LOVE

She was not in bed, although she was undressed, and she had already laid out her riding habit on a chair so that it would be ready for her when she awoke in the morning.

Benina knew that she must not keep David waiting.  She was mindful of her father's words of caution that men found nothing more annoying than an unpunctual woman.  He said that it implied a woman believed that waiting around was a man's duty, which it was most certainly not.

She put her riding boots in front of the chair.

Then she walked over to the window to have a last look at the garden, which looked like Fairyland in the moonlight.

As she gazed down onto the lake she thought what fun it had been to swim with David.

‘I am so lucky,' she thought.  ‘Another man might have been as unkind and cruel as the Marquis and sent Nanny and me away from Ingle Hall.'

And how thrilled the pensioners would be at all he had done for them.

She was sure no other man would be so generous when he had so little money.

‘He is wonderful!
Wonderful
!' she told herself.

THE BARBARA CARTLAND PINK COLLECTION

Barbara Cartland was the most prolific bestselling author in the history of the world. She was frequently in the Guinness Book of Records for writing more books in a year than any other living author. In fact her most amazing literary feat was when her publishers asked for more Barbara Cartland romances, she doubled her output from 10 books a year to over 20 books a year, when she was 77.

She went on writing continuously at this rate for 20 years and wrote her last book at the age of 97, thus completing 400 books between the ages of 77 and 97.

Her publishers finally could not keep up with this phenomenal output, so at her death she left 160 unpublished manuscripts, something again that no other author has ever achieved.

Now the exciting news is that these 160 original unpublished Barbara Cartland books are ready for publication and they will be published by Barbaracartland.com exclusively on the internet, as the web is the best possible way to reach so many Barbara Cartland readers around the world.

The 160 books will be published monthly and will be numbered in sequence.

The series is called the Pink Collection as a tribute to Barbara Cartland whose favourite colour was pink and it became very much her trademark over the years.

The Barbara Cartland Pink Collection is published only on the internet. Log on to
www.barbaracartland.com
to find out how you can purchase the books monthly as they are published, and take out a subscription that will ensure that all subsequent editions are delivered to you by mail order to your home.

If you do not have access to a computer you can write for information about the Pink Collection to the following address :

 

Barbara Cartland.com Ltd.

240 High Road,

Harrow Weald,

Harrow

HA3 7BB

United Kingdom.

 

Telephone & fax: +44 (0)20 8863 2520

 Titles in this series

These titles are currently available for download. For more information please see the
Where to buy page
at the end of this book.

 

1. The Cross Of Love
2. Love In The Highlands
3. Love Finds The Way
4. The Castle Of Love
5. Love Is Triumphant
6. Stars In The Sky
7. The Ship Of Love
8. A Dangerous Disguise
9. Love Became Theirs
10. Love Drives In
11. Sailing To Love
12. The Star Of Love
13. Music Is The Soul Of Love
14. Love In The East
15. Theirs To Eternity
16. A Paradise On Earth
17. Love Wins In Berlin
18. In Search Of Love
19. Love Rescues Rosanna
20. A Heart In Heaven
21. The House Of Happiness
22. Royalty Defeated By Love
23. The White Witch
24. They Sought Love
25. Love Is The Reason For Living
26. They Found Their Way To Heaven
27. Learning To Love
28. Journey To Happiness
29. A Kiss In The Desert
30. The Heart Of Love
31. The Richness Of Love
32. For Ever And Ever
33. An Unexpected Love
34. Saved By An Angel
35. Touching The Stars
36. Seeking Love
37. Journey To Love
38. The Importance Of Love
39. Love By The Lake
40. A Dream Come True
41. The King Without A Heart
42. The Waters Of Love
43. Danger To The Duke
44. A Perfect Way To Heaven
45. Follow Your Heart
46. In Hiding
47. Rivals For Love
48. A Kiss From The Heart
49. Lovers In London
50. This Way To Heaven
51. A Princess Prays
52. Mine For Ever
53. The Earl's Revenge
54. Love At The Tower
55. Ruled By Love
56. Love Came From Heaven
57. Love And Apollo
58. The Keys Of Love
59. A Castle Of Dreams
60. A Battle Of Brains
61. A Change Of Hearts
62. It Is Love
63. The Triumph Of Love
64. Wanted – A Royal Wife
65. A Kiss Of Love
66. To Heaven With Love
67. Pray For Love
68. The Marquis Is Trapped
69. Hide And Seek For Love
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.

“I have often been asked, ‘how do you know when you are really in love and it is not just plain infatuation?'

My answer is always the same.

You are in love when your loved one is never out of your mind for a single second and you just cannot wait until you see and touch her or him again.”

Barbara Cartland

CHAPTER ONE
-
1872

A bearded and disreputable figure in the tattered dress of a Muslim Holy man moved into the deserted cave with a sigh of relief.

He had been walking for miles and was desperately tired.

At the same time he knew that he had to climb out of sight before he was observed.

He looked around the large cave.

He realised that if he climbed to the far end of it, he would not only be well out of sight but also above the people coming after him, who he wanted to overhear.

He was, in fact, a British officer – Captain David Ingle of the Sixth Bengal Native Cavalry Regiment.

Like many other Officers he had joined what was considered the most exciting, but dangerous, Secret Service in the whole world.

During the last twelve years British intelligence had realised that the Russian Empire was expanding to take over the small Caravan towns and the Muslim Khanates that lay between their Southern border and the frontier of Northern India.

One by one they were falling to the fearsome Cossacks, who always spearheaded the advance of the Russian troops.

In 1865 the great walled City of Tashkent had been forced to submit humbly to the Czar, and three years later it was the turn of Samarkand and Bokhara to face humiliation and defeat.

Now the Russians were creeping closer and closer to India's weakly guarded North-West Frontier and British Empire territory.

Despite the Czar's repeated assurances that he and the Russians had no hostile intentions towards India the British, both at home and in India, were becoming increasingly concerned.

It was already known that several of the Czar's most able Generals had drawn up a plan of invasion.

As the threat to the British Empire intensified more and more young Officers were prepared to risk their lives – in fact quite a number of them had already died.

They undertook increasingly dangerous journeys in disguise to report on Russian movements as well as to try to win over the allegiance of weak and suspicious Khans.

A large number of the players in this strange secret struggle, often referred to as ‘
The Great Game',
were professionals – Indian Army Officers and the political Agents sent by their superiors in Calcutta to glean information of every kind.

But some were volunteers and these amateurs were no less capable.

Disguised as Muslim Holy men and Buddhist pilgrims, they had succeeded in secretly mapping thousands of square acres of previously unexplored territory.

David Ingle had jumped at the chance of joining
The
Great Game
just a year after he had proved himself an excellent soldier.  Although still a young man, he was already on the list of Officers selected for early promotion.

He had the reputation for being extremely lucky and he brought information back to Headquarters that they had never been able to obtain through anyone else.

For him it was an excitement he enjoyed more than anything else.

He had wisely learnt to speak Urdu fluently and picked up sufficient Russian to understand what his enemies were saying if he was able to make any form of contact with them.

From what he had seen and heard on his missions, he was even more convinced than the Viceroy himself that India was in great danger.

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