Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Music Is The Soul Of Love
    Music Is The Soul Of Love
    Music Is The Soul Of Love
    Ebook179 pages2 hours

    Music Is The Soul Of Love

    By Barbara Cartland

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Carina was alone in the world and unsure of what the future held for her. Then a troupe of musicians, called 'Bertie's Beauties', had an accident outside her gates and she found herself swept up in their fate as she took over from their injured pianist. Now one of the troupe, she went to perform at the Duke of Westbury's castle, never suspecting that the Duke would turn out to be the young man she had met for a few dramatic moments many years before. To hide her identity she allowed him to see her only when she was masked. He soon became so intrigued that he made advances to her. Horrified that he should consider her a woman of loose morals, Carina fled the castle and became a full time member of 'Bertie's Beauties'. If she could not find love, at least she could fulfil her gifts as a musician. Knowing she could never marry the man she loved, she agreed to marry Bertie, who had fallen in love with her, although he know her heart was given to the Duke. But the Duke had never got over her desertion and he was determined to find her. What happened when they met again is told in this intriguing and romantic novel by Barbara Cartland.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBarbara Cartland Ebooks ltd
    Release dateAug 14, 2012
    ISBN9781906950682
    Music Is The Soul Of Love

    Related to Music Is The Soul Of Love

    Titles in the series (100)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Royalty Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Up Close

      Jun 3, 2024

      DENNIS McFARLAND’s most recent novel is Nostalgia. His short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, and the Scholar, among other places. In the last scene of Carla Abdala-Diggs’s musical Federal Agent, set in ctional Ar

      21 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Breaking The Silence

      Jun 17, 2024

      Breaking The Silence
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Lady

      Oct 18, 2020

      The Lady
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      God Of The Woods

      Oct 24, 2024

      God Of The Woods
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Speed of Mercy

      Jul 30, 2021

      Speed of Mercy
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Books

      Jun 23, 2023

      You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight By Kalynn Bayron This queer slasher fiction is a triumph from the brilliant Kalynn Bayron, the author behind Cinderella Is Dead and This Poison Heart. Kalynn naturally explores love, death, desire and power, all wh

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      All Our Hidden Gifts

      May 28, 2021

      All Our Hidden Gifts
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Great Read

      Jul 11, 2024

      Great Read
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Scarlet PEBBLE

      Feb 28, 2024

      The Scarlet PEBBLE
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Great Read

      Oct 3, 2024

      Great Read
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Book Club

      Aug 16, 2023

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Book Club

      Aug 16, 2023

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Books

      Apr 16, 2021

      Books
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Summer Reading Special

      Dec 28, 2023

      The distinctive depth of characterisation shines in this tightly knitted story of therapist Nick and retired solicitor wife Zoe, as they decide to view a deconsecrated Victorian church which is for sale. It’s “even more picturesque than it looked onl

      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Australia Reads At Home

      May 18, 2020

      Australia Reads At Home
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Elusive Diana of the Imagination

      Oct 30, 2021

      The Elusive Diana of the Imagination
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      From Our Archives: A 1981 Interview With Toni Morrison

      Aug 7, 2019

      The award-winning author Toni Morrison died Aug. 5, 2019. We're reposting this 1981 interview conducted shortly after her fourth novel, "Tar Baby," was published.

      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Fiction

      Jan 20, 2023

      Fiction
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Summer Reading Special

      Dec 28, 2023

      Summer Reading Special
      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      November’s BOOK CLUB

      Sep 29, 2022

      The Ghost Woods by CJ Cooke (£14.99, HB, Harper Collins) Celebrate spooky season with this gothic thriller. When Pearl Gorham arrives at Lichen Hall in 1965 to have her baby, she knows immediately something is amiss. The Whitlocks are a troubled fam

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Planof Action

      Oct 5, 2021

      Planof Action
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Music

      Dec 17, 2021

      60 The number of gold discs Paul McCartney has received for album sales in his career Rememberings Sinead O’Connor The singersongwriter has an incredible story to tell – by the time she found fame, she had already experienced harrowing abuse at the h

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      ‘DIANA Was A Force To Be Reckoned With’

      Aug 4, 2022

      We sat in her plush drawing room at Kensington Palace, surrounded by framed photos of ‘her boys’, William and Harry, and dissected the collapse of her marriage to their father, Charles. Diana was in a chatty mood. It was June 1995: five months befor

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Music Is The Soul Of Love

    4/5

    9 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Pure Romance... But a little sad... They suffered too much! A strong love lasts for years...
    • 1/5
      One of the worse BC’s, probably written by a hysteric assistant or so.

    Book preview

    Music Is The Soul Of Love - Barbara Cartland

    Love

    CHAPTER ONE - 1865

    The theatre was abuzz. The performance of Twelfth Night was magnificent and soon it would be time for the lights to go down for the last act.

    From her place in a box near the stage, fourteen-year old Carina Denton sighed with delight. Her first visit to London had proved to be everything she had hoped and tonight was the best of all.

    When her school friend, Alice Grade, had invited her for a visit, her parents had been a little uncertain. But Alice’s family were respectable, old-fashioned people and permission was soon given.

    Alice, who is that? Carina whispered to her friend, indicating a young man in the box immediately opposite.

    He was in his early twenties, and incredibly handsome, Carina thought. Tall, elegant, striking and attired in full evening-dress, with cuff-links that must have been real diamonds from the way they sparkled.

    But there was something else about him that drew her attention. His dark eyes were fierce and turbulent. His curved mouth hinted at a darkly sensual nature.

    Not that Carina understood this. She only knew that there was a wildness and a drama about him that made it impossible for her to turn away.

    I don’t know him, Alice whispered back.

    What are you girls whispering about? asked Miss Ferrars, her governess.

    We are wondering who that young man is, Alice told her.

    Miss Ferrars gave a little gasp and averted her eyes modestly.

    That is Lord Thornhill and you must not look at him.

    Why? Carina wanted to know.

    Because he is not a proper person.

    Why? Alice demanded.

    Miss Ferrars was in an awkward position. As a governess she was expected to be prim, proper and puritanical at all times. Yet beneath the severe bodice of her dark dress beat the heart of a romantic.

    Normally her employer, Alice’s mother, would have answered these questions. But at the last minute Mrs. Grade had been stricken with a headache, and Miss Ferrars alone had accompanied the girls to the theatre.

    He is improper because – he does improper things, she said lamely.

    What sort of things? Alice persisted. Oh, do tell us please.

    He has a bad reputation, Miss Ferrars replied. People say he is – dissolute.

    But what does he do? Carina wanted to know.

    Poor Miss Ferrars could not have answered that question in a million years. At forty she was as innocent and sheltered as a young girl. She knew that Lord Thornhill was dissolute because she had been told that he was. But precisely how a man went about being dissolute she had only the vaguest idea.

    Never mind, she said hastily. Thank goodness he has gone now.

    Lord Thornhill had slipped away through the curtains at the back of his box. Miss Ferrars gave a sigh of relief.

    But her relief was to be short-lived. A moment later he appeared in the box immediately next to theirs.

    Now Carina could see him better.

    He was little more than a boy, although his face was already marked by experience. He had the air and grace of a prince who knew that the world was his to be enjoyed as he pleased.

    Carina gazed at him, awed by his aura of glamour and romance, thinking that he was exactly what a hero ought to be.

    The box beside them contained three ladies who, from their family resemblance, might have been a mother and two daughters.

    He courted them all, kissing their hands, giving them practised, flirtatious smiles. The girls looked at him with yearning, the mother with knowing anticipation.

    The door at the back of the box opened and a middle aged man came in. As soon as he saw Lord Thornhill, Carina could sense the tension.

    ‘He does not like him,’ she thought, watching the man’s suspicious eyes flicker from his wife to his daughters. ‘I wonder why?’ 

    But however deep his dislike, the man evidently lacked the courage to order Lord Thornhill out of his box. As the lights went down for the last act, the young man settled himself audaciously between the daughters.

    The curtain went up. In moments Carina was absorbed by what was happening on the stage, believing in the characters, loving every moment of it.

    Fiend!

    The voice rang out from the stage and everyone sat up, alert. There was something different about the man who had entered and was standing in the spotlight.

    Foul fiend! Vile seducer!

    A buzz went round the audience as people began to realise that this was not part of the play. The man who had rushed onto the stage was thin, gaunt and unshaven. His clothes were expensive but he looked as though he had slept in them.

    He was pointing at Lord Thornhill as he screamed,

    Villain! Wretch! The world shall know you for what you are. No decent house should receive you. No woman is safe.

    The young Lord had risen and come to the front of the box. Clearly he recognised himself in the accusation and was ready to brazen it out.

    Girls, it’s time we were going, Miss Ferrars declared, all a-flutter.

    Oh no! they protested in unison.

    Lord Thornhill, standing just on the other side of the low divide, heard this and turned his blazing grin onto them.

    Ignore him, ladies, he said. It is all over now. The performance can continue.

    He turned back to the stage and called back,

    Be off with you, sir. You have now had your say and should retire.

    He gave an elegant bow in the direction of the stage, where the man was tramping about clutching his head. His hair fell over his forehead, giving him a look of wild disorder, almost of madness.

    You mock me! he shrieked. But I will rid the world of you!

    Before everyone’s horrified gaze he thrust his hand into his jacket, pulled out a pistol and fired.

    There was a loud crack. Then another.

    Suddenly everyone was screaming. Lord Thornhill staggered back, clutching his shoulder. The next moment he had toppled over the low divide, straight into Carina’s lap.

    Her hands flew to her face and she let out a gasp. There was an ugly red stain on the snowy white of his evening shirt.

    He began to slide onto the floor and she instinctively put out her arms to save him.

    His eyes, which had been closed, opened suddenly. He was looking directly at her.

    Carina had the strangest sensation that the world had stopped. She could hear the shouts and screams about her, but they seemed to be coming from a long way away.

    The world was suddenly unreal. The only reality was the handsome young man whose head was lying in her lap.

    There was blood on his face where the first bullet had grazed his cheekbone before the second bullet caught him in the chest.

    He saw her gazing at him, and managed a faint smile.

    Good evening, madam, he said faintly. My – apologies for – inconveniencing you.

    No – no – she stammered, too distracted to know what she was saying. Oh, if only I could help you. Please don’t die.

    Certainly not, he murmured. I would never wish to distress a lady. I think – if a way could be found to stop the bleeding –

    He broke off with a groan.

    Yes, yes, said Carina, looking around her and thinking quickly.

    Seizing her reticule, she pulled out a handkerchief. It seemed such a tiny object for such a mighty job, but she screwed it up and thrust it beneath his jacket over the horrible wound.

    The man from the next box was leaning over, his face full of horror.

    If you please sir, Carina said, speaking with a calm she was far from feeling, may I have your handkerchief?

    I – yes, of course. Well done!

    He handed her a large handkerchief, which Carina pressed into place on the young man’s chest, fighting to staunch the flow of blood.

    Lord Thornhill was almost unconscious, his eyes fast closing, but still he kept his gaze on her.

    If I live, he whispered, you will have saved me.

    Oh please don’t talk like that, she begged. You must live. The doctor will be here soon.

    Whatever he does – it is you who has saved me. May I not know your name?

    Carina, she said.

    Carina. A lovely name. It’s Italian, did you know that?

    Tearfully she shook her head.

    In Italian it means ‘beloved’. That is how I shall always remember you – my beloved. You are so pretty – I know that one day you will be another man’s beloved. But you will always be mine too. I shall never forget you.

    And I shall never forget you, she said, knowing it to be true.

    Kiss me, he whispered.

    She gasped at such an outrageous request, but he said,

    It might be my last kiss on earth. I beg you –

    She could not deny him. Dropping her head, she laid her virginal lips briefly on his. For a moment she felt his mouth move against hers. Then he was still.

    Horrified she drew back to gaze into his face. Suddenly she became aware of the world again. There were shouts and commotion. The box was filled with people. The doctor had arrived.

    The young man was laid out on the floor and the doctor was examining him.

    Come girls, commanded a shaken Miss Ferrars. We must leave at once.

    Oh no, Carina cried.

    "What did you say?"

    I cannot go without knowing if he’s dead.

    Do as I tell you and come at once.

    Carina’s mouth set in a stubbornness that was rare in her.

    No, she said again.

    Miss Ferrars gave a little scream of horror. Alice regarded her friend with admiration, but she almost did not recognise her. This was a new Carina, almost a young woman, with strength and determination clearly marked on her brow.

    The doctor had found the handkerchiefs.

    Who put these here?

    I did, Carina faltered.

    Well, you have saved his life.

    Carina gave a gasp of joy.

    Then he will live?

    You have managed to staunch the blood. I see no reason why he should not live now.

    Oh thank you, thank you!

    Carina was swept by violent feeling, too great for her to control. She dropped to her knees, her eyes closed, her lips moving in a prayer of passionate gratitude.

    Aghast, Miss Ferrars hauled her to her feet and hurried the two girls out of the box. Carina went in a dream.

    All the way home Miss Ferrars was in a flutter. She communicated the terrible deeds to her employers in a voice that suggested the heavens would fall because the two girls had witnessed such things.

    Luckily Mr. and Mrs. Grade, although horrified, were people of great common sense and insisted on playing the matter down, forbidding any further mention of it.

    There was a brief reference to the shooting in the next day’s newspaper, although, to Carina’s disappointment, it made no mention of Lord Thornhill’s ultimate fate. So she was still left in uncertainty about whether he had lived or died.

    On the following day she was sent back to her parents’ home in the quiet Worcestershire countryside.

    She never told anyone of the words that had passed between her and the young Lord. She never spoke of his kiss or the way he had whispered her name.

    But she never forgot him, or the sound of his voice saying, ‘Carina – my beloved.’  Those words would live in her heart forever.

    *

    1875

    The letter from Carina’s Aunt Mary arrived just as she was at her lowest point.

    It is six months now since your mother died, my dear, and you have lived alone for too long. You are twenty-four and it is time you saw some life. Even now, it isn’t too late for you to get married.

    Dear Aunt Mary, Carina thought with a smile. She had the tact of an elephant, but she meant to be kind.

    And what she said was true. After that one visit to London and the drama of the theatre trip, which now seemed so long ago, nothing remotely exciting had happened to her.

    Alice had married at eighteen, not to a man with a title, as her parents had hoped, but to a parson. She now lived in Yorkshire with her husband and four children. Carina had visited them and enjoyed the sight of their happiness, but their lives were

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1