Walking to Wonderland

Barbara Cartland

Apr 2021 · The Eternal Collection Book 272 · Barbara Cartland EBooks ltd

About this ebook

Handsome, distinguished and decidedly dashing, Theo, the Duke of Eaglefield, has the world, and most of its women, at his feet. But he takes all this attention for granted and is becoming tired and bored by it all.  

In fact his friend, Harry Hampton, tells him that he has no concept of the challenges and complexities faced by the ordinary man and that the people he encounters see only his riches and rank rather than the man himself. 

Protesting that this is untrue, Theo accepts Harry’s challenge to walk the fifty miles from Brighton to his house, Eagle Hall, in Berkshire incognito and mixing with commoners along the way. He stands to lose his finest pair of horses should he fail and so he sets forth, leaving behind the glamour of Brighton’s Beau Monde.

The second morning of his pilgrimage, Theo comes across a beautiful young girl, Alysia, standing precariously at the edge of a deep pool next to a weir. She seems to be praying and, instinctively, he knows that she is about to plunge to her death in the river.

After leading her to safety he hears all about her cruel and grasping stepfather who murdered her mother and who is now bent on seizing her sizeable inheritance by marrying her off to his friend, Lord Gosforde with whom he will share the spoils. 

Theo is transfixed by Alysia, thinking it quite ‘impossible for anyone to be so beautiful’.

 Almost instantly he finds himself falling in love with this ‘very young angel who has fallen out of Heaven by mistake’ and he decides to take her on his journey on foot. 

But can he keep Alysia away from her murderous stepfather and be able to reach the safety of Eagle Hall unscathed?

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.