Lucky Logan Finds Love (14 page)
Read Lucky Logan Finds Love Online
Authors: Barbara Cartland
Tags: #London (England), #General, #Romance, #Historical, #Platinum Mines and Mining, #Large Type Books, #Fiction
He only looked at her and, as her eyes met his, she felt as if the whole room was lit not by the sunshine, but by a light that came directly from Heaven.
Its brilliance was so dazzling that it enveloped them both.
There was nothing in the world except themselves.
Belinda could never remember afterwards whether she moved or Marcus did.
Somehow she was in his arms and he was kissing her.
Kissing her wildly, passionately, possessively, until they were both breathless.
She was incapable of asking him why he was there or how he had found her.
All she knew was that her body had come alive with the same ecstasy he had given her before.
It was moving from her breast into her lips.
It was as if he carried her into the sky and the world was left behind them.
She gave him not only her heart but her soul, and she was his.
After what might have been a few minutes or a century of time, Marcus asked in a voice that was deep and unsteady,
“How could you have gone away from me as you did? How could you have done anything so damnable as to leave without telling me who you were?”
He did not wait for her answer, but kissed her again.
After what seemed a very long time, she managed to ask,
“H-how did you – manage to – find me?”
He smiled before he replied,
“If I can find precious stones, gold and a dozen other things, do you imagine I could not find you, however difficult you made it?”
“But – you are – here!”
“I
am
here,” he said, “but it might have been far more difficult had you not left your father’s book behind.”
Belinda gave a little cry.
“I never – thought of it – but of course – I left it on the table by my – bed!”
“I could not believe you had gone,” Marcus said again, “leaving only that note for my mother which told us nothing.”
“Y-you wanted to – find me?”
He looked down at her.
“Can you really ask me such a ridiculous question? I was frantic, desperate, in case I had lost you forever! How could you be so cruel?”
“I-I did not think you would – want to find me – or that I meant – anything to – you,” Belinda murmured.
Marcus moved his lips against her forehead.
“I knew when I kissed you,” he said, “that you were the woman I had been looking for all my life but thought I would never find.”
Belinda drew in her breath.
“That is – how I felt about you – but how could I – know that you felt the – same about – me?”
“For once,” Marcus replied, “you were not using your intuition. I used mine when I found I had lost the most precious jewel of all and it is quite simply called – love!”
Belinda put her cheek against his shoulder.
“Did you – really think – that? I thought – that after all – the many women you must have met I could – never mean – anything in your life.”
Marcus laughed.
“You are flattering me and at the same time being somewhat insulting!”
Belinda looked up at him wide-eyed.
“My intuition never fails me,” he said. “Or it has not done so, up until now. I knew, almost from the moment I saw you and we talked together, that you were someone very very special.”
He paused before he added quietly,
“It was like the feeling I have when I know there are jewels, gold or platinum in the ground.”
“Platinum?” Belinda asked.
“That is what I found in Zenjira.”
It was then Belinda remembered why she had run away and that Marcus did not know she was really a spy.
She moved from his arms and walked across the room to look out of the window into the garden.
“I-I have – something to – tell you,” she started.
“I am listening!”
“Perhaps – when you hear what I have to say – you will not love me any – more.”
“That would be impossible – but go on!”
“I came as a – reader to – your mother,” Belinda admitted in a small voice he could hardly hear, “in order to spy on – you!”
“So
that
is why you looked so frightened!”
He moved, as he spoke, to stand beside her at the window.
He did not touch her, but because he was so near, he felt her quiver.
Irresistibly the rapture was moving within her.
“M-my stepfather – spent all the money my father left me,” she stammered, “and even – mortgaged this house to the bank – so that it was no longer mine and – I had nowhere to g-go.”
Marcus did not speak.
She went on, feeling that she was destroying her only chance of happiness.
But she knew she had to tell him the whole truth.
“He thought that the only way he could – save us was to find out – before you floated a Company on the – Stock Exchange – what it was you had recently – found and – where.”
To her surprise, Marcus Logan laughed.
Then his arms were round her, pulling her close to him.
“So
that
is what made you frightened! My darling, people have been trying that trick ever since I first discovered diamonds. But, strangely enough, they have never managed to get ahead of me.”
Belinda was finding it difficult to speak, but she forced herself to say,
“It was – wrong – I know it was wrong and Papa would have been – furious with me – but I had to – try to save my stepfather from – going to prison – and for us – both being absolutely – penniless.”
“As soon as I discovered who you were,” Marcus said, “and at the same time hearing that Captain Rowland had come into a fortune, I guessed it was something like that that had made you run away.”
“You found – all that out – through Papa’s book?” Belinda asked. “But – how?”
“I was always suspicious of your name being ‘Brown’,” Marcus said. “You not only stammered over it when you spoke it, but you also made a mess of it when you wrote that note to my mother.”
He kissed her hair before he added,
“The inscription in the book read,
‘
To my beloved daughter, Belinda, on her tenth birthday,
from her affectionate father, Richard Wyncombe
’
.
”
“So having found out who I am,” Belinda murmured, “you then learnt what had – happened to my – stepfather!”
“That was not very difficult,” Marcus answered with a smile. “He is so overjoyed at owning shares in the most fabulous gold mine yet found in Arizona that he is proclaiming it to the treetops – or rather in Whites Club, of which I also am a member.”
Belinda gave a shaky little laugh.
She knew exactly how exuberant her stepfather was.
“But my concern is not with him, but with you, my darling. Are you alone here?”
“Yes,” Belinda answered. “I was so happy with Mama, but it was terribly – lonely for me when she married Captain Rowland – and even worse when she died.”
“And will you be very happy with me?” Marcus asked.
Belinda looked up at him questioningly.
“Are you quite sure you love me?” he added.
“I-I cried last – night because – I thought I would never – see you – again,” she whispered.
He kissed her gently before he declared,
“We will be married immediately and then we will go to my house in the country which I am so looking forward to showing you.”
Belinda put her hands on his shoulders.
“Are you – certain – quite certain that you are – safe and those men will not – try to hurt you again?”
“It is something they no doubt would like to do,” Marcus replied, “but they will all be given long sentences for breaking, entering and carrying dangerous weapons.”
Belinda gave a little cry.
“I knew – they were – trying to – injure you!”
“But you saved me,” he answered quietly, “and that is what you have to continue to do in the future.”
“How – can I do – that if you are – going round the world finding things – like gold and platinum which – others wish to – possess? I don’t think I could – bear it!”
“There is no more need for me to go round the world, unless some very special reason arises for doing so,” Marcus said. “For the moment, at any rate, I am going to spend my time in the country, making love to you and breeding horses, which is something that has always been of interest to me.”
“Do you really – mean that?”
“I mean it,” he stated firmly, “and if I
do
go abroad, you will come with me.”
He paused a moment and then went on,
“If you are going to protect me, you may as well do it on the spot, rather than sitting at home and using your intuition to know whether I am alive or dead!”
He was teasing her, but because she was afraid for him, she moved a little closer.
“Please – you must be very very careful of yourself. I could not – bear to lose you as I lost – Papa and then Mama.”
“You loved your parents and that is how our children must feel about us,” Marcus said. “And if nothing else, my lovely one, a family will make me want to stay at home.”
He smiled at her and then continued,
“As it is, I would rather be with you than do anything else in the whole world!”
“That is what I – wanted you to say,” Belinda cried. “Oh, Marcus – I love you – I love you!”
Then he was kissing her incessantly, passionately and demandingly and they were flying into the sky.
There was no danger, no fear, only Love.
The Love that joins two people with their hearts, their bodies and their instincts that can never be denied.
Together they were one for all Eternity and beyond into every life they had yet to live.
The Barbara Cartland Eternal Collection is the unique opportunity to collect as ebooks all five hundred of the timeless beautiful romantic novels written by the world’s most celebrated and enduring romantic author.
Named the Eternal Collection because Barbara’s inspiring stories of pure love, just the same as love itself, the books will be published on the internet at the rate of four titles per month until all five hundred are available.
The Eternal Collection, classic pure romance available worldwide for all time .
- Elizabethan Lover
- The Little Pretender
- A Ghost in Monte Carlo
- A Duel of Hearts
- The Saint and the Sinner
- The Penniless Peer
- The Proud Princess
- The Dare-Devil Duke
- Diona and a Dalmatian
- A Shaft of Sunlight
- Lies for Love
- Love and Lucia
- Love and the Loathsome Leopard
- Beauty or Brains
- The Temptation of Torilla
- The Goddess and the Gaiety Girl
- Fragrant Flower
- Look Listen and Love
- The Duke and the Preacher’s Daughter
- A Kiss for the King
- The Mysterious Maid-servant
- Lucky Logan Finds Love
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.
LUCKY LOGAN
FINDS LOVE
Barbara Cartland
This edition © 2012
Copyright Cartland Promotions 1993
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Table of Contents
- Cover
- Author’s Note
- Chapter One – 1870
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
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