Royalty Defeated by Love by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-906950-94-1
Publisher: Barbara Cartland.com

CHAPTER SIX

Michael was enjoying himself more than at any time in his entire life.

The rooms in the castle were being restored to their old beauty. The windows were being painted and the broken and dirty panes of glass were being removed.

He was so happy with what he was doing that he managed to banish London right out of his mind.

Until one day, when he was working high up on the tower, he looked down and noticed a very smart carriage drawn by four horses driving through the village.

Then as the carriage reached the gates to his drive, he drew in his breath.

He knew, almost as if a shot had been fired from a gun, whose carriage it was and who would be inside.

Alice had come searching for him.

He stepped back sharply from the edge.

For a mad moment he was tempted to send someone down with a message saying that he was not at home, sending her away.

Then he realised that he could not insult her in such a fashion.

‘Dammit!’ he muttered.

He left the roof of the castle and rushed to his chamber to strip off his workmen’s clothes, wash and don the kind of elegant attire Alice would expect to see him wearing.

He had barely finished when Brooks came to announce Lady Alice’s arrival.

As he expected, she had been shown into the drawing room which was already looking very different from the way it had been when Michael first arrived.

Already new curtains had been put up at the windows, the whole room had been cleaned and there were plenty of flowers sent by the Major.

When Michael entered the room, Alice was standing by the window looking out into the garden. She had taken off her hat which she was holding in one hand.

He thought she looked exceedingly pretty and any other man would probably fall at her feet. Unfortunately, he was the one she wanted.

As he shut the door she ran towards him, smiling, her arms outstretched.

“Michael! Michael your castle is magnificent. I did not realise how large it is. I understand now why you disappeared, but I thought I would never see you again.”

She flung herself against him so that he was obliged to put his arms round her to hold her steady.

“I had no idea where you had gone,” she simpered. “How could you be so cruel as to vanish completely?”

She was clinging to him as she spoke and her lips were obviously waiting for his lips.

Taking her firmly by the arms, Michael held her away from him and said,

“You had no right to come here until I invited you. I wanted the place to be completed before you or anyone else saw it.”

The next moment he realised his mistake for a smile lit up her face and she burst out,

“So you are doing all this for me!”

“No,” he said with a touch of desperation. Not for you or anyone but myself. I simply do not want anyone to see my castle until it has become a home I can be proud of.

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