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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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.

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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

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.