No Escape from Love

Barbara Cartland

Feb 2013 · The Eternal Collection Book 33 · Barbara Cartland EBooks ltd

About this ebook

When the Armistice between France and England came to an end in 1803, Napoleon interned ten thousand British tourists who were in France at that time. Most of these tourists had committed no crime and had simply been travelling when captured. Many, to save being arrested went into hiding, among them the widow and daughter of Sir Edward Waltham, who had died that winter. A year later, plunged into poverty and the seedier side of Paris life, beautiful Vernita Waltham is keeping her sick mother precariously alive on the money she obtains from making exquisitely embroidered lingerie for a famous shop that supplies Napoleon's sister, Her Imperial Highness Princess Pauline Borghese. Vernita discovers the shop is cheating and desperate to raise money for food and medicine, decides to approach the Princess directly with a negligee she has just finished, disguised as a petite bourgeoisie. Extravagant and self-obsessed, Princess Pauline is enchanted with Vernita's skills as a needlewoman and convinced that the silk and lace creations will only enhance her reputation as the most beautiful woman in Paris. She immediately determines that Vernita must move to the Palace and join the legion of servants that already pander to her vanity. From that moment on Vernita is thrust into complications with the Princess's lover, handsome Count Axel de Storvik, and the all-powerful Emperor Napoleon himself. Unsure of whom to trust in a Palace filled with secret assignations and political intrigue, Vernita soon finds herself in a position that could ruin her reputation for ever. But how long can an English lady of quality remain hidden amongst the loyal family and servants of the enemy French Emperor? Terrified of discovery and fearful of the future, Vernita dreams of escape and a return to her home in England only to find an ally, waiting like a guiding star, in the most unlikely of places.

About the author

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages. As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery. She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation. Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world. She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven. Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed. Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone’s life.