“Are you – really suggesting that – loving you as I do, I would be – prepared to – marry anybody else?”
“I cannot marry you!” Tarquil said quickly. “How can I? I can only ask you again to forget me.”
He drew in his breath.
“I came to see you because you asked me to do so and now I am going to say ‘goodbye’, Clova. It would be best if we do not see each other again at least until you are aware of how mistaken you are in your feelings towards me.”
As he finished speaking, Clova made a sound like an animal that has been hurt.
Then she asked,
“How can you be – so cruel? How can you be so – unkind? I shall never – never love – anybody but you and – I cannot possibly cope with – everything I must do here – without you.”
“That is what you have to do.”
“Just because of my – money? If that is all that stands between us – then as far as I am concerned I – no longer – want it.”
She felt as if Tarquil was hardly listening to her and that if he was he did not believe what she was saying.
Insistently she put out her hand to hold onto the lapels of his jacket.
“Listen – to me,” she said. “That money was not mine in the first place. It was given to my mother by a man who found her – attractive and amusing for a – short time until he remembered somewhat belatedly that he had a wife and children in South Africa.”
She paused before she forced herself to continue,
“He was – paying for the – favours she had given him making – her, as Euan said, although I could – never think of it in that way, nothing but a – harlot.”
Tears came into Clova’s eyes and ran down her cheeks as she went on,
“She never – enjoyed that – money and, if you feel it is – tainted and unclean, then I will – send it to Jan Maskill’s family in Johannesburg. I am sure they will be only too – willing to take back what their father – expended on a woman they would despise.”
The tears now blinded her eyes as she continued brokenly,
“I was only – glad to have it because at the moment it came there was nothing – nothing – not even a few francs – between me and starvation. Now I can throw – myself on the charity of the Clan – and if they will not have me – perhaps you will – find a place for me in your home.”
It was impossible to say anything more and, sobbing tempestuously, Clova moved to rest her head against Tarquil’s shoulder.
His arms went round her and, as she cried so that her tears wetted the cloth of his jacket, she heard him say wonderingly,
“Do you really love me as much as all that?”
“I – love you so much that there is – nothing else in the – world but you,” Clova sobbed, “and – if you don’t – want me, I wish I had been – brave enough last night to – throw myself from the tower – as I thought of doing.”
His arms tightened.
“My ridiculous darling,” he said in a very different voice from the one that he had used before. “You must not talk like that.”
“It – is true,” Clova insisted. “I-I cannot live – without you – whatever you may – feel about me.”
She felt his lips on her forehead as he said,
“It is because I love you that I am trying to do what is right and, although it is hard, to behave like a gentleman.”
“I don’t – want you to be a – gentleman. I-I want you to be – my husband!”
She heard Tarquil give a short laugh before he said,
“My darling, my sweet. Is there anyone like you? I knew the moment I saw you that you were the woman I had been looking for all my life, who I thought must be merely a figment of my imagination and could not possibly exist. Then suddenly you were there and I was complete for you were the other half of myself.”
“That is – what I feel – too,” Clova whispered.
Now there was a faint light of hope in her eyes and Tarquil thought, as he looked down at her tear-stained cheeks and the softness of her lips, that it was impossible for any woman to be more beautiful.
“I love you – God, how I love you!” he breathed. “But I know that what you are asking me to do is wrong.”
“It is right – absolutely right, as far as – we are concerned!” Clova insisted. “And I have told you – if you hate – my money, we will send it back or – give it all away.”
“That is what we will do,” Tarquil said quietly. “We will give it to those who need it and, if I can utilise it, as I should be able to do, your money will bring employment into the Highlands and it will be a blessing rather than a curse.”
“That is what I – want it to be,” Clova cried, “and Tarquil, if I am really – as you say – the other part of you, then – everything that is – mine, including me, is yours. So how can you be so – foolish about it?”
“I told you I have my pride,” Tarquil replied, but he was smiling.
“And I have no pride,” Clova answered. “So – please Tarquil – please – please I beg of you, if necessary on my knees, to marry me. I love you and I will do – anything you ask of me. I want to be – your wife, I want to be – with you, I want to work – with you and have you – guard and protect me and I am not too proud to say so.”
Tarquil did not answer.
He only kissed her, demandingly, fiercely and possessively.
His kisses told her without words that, although he loved her, he would always be her Master and would always be the strong authoritative person in her life.
This was what she wanted.
She understood that unless she surrendered herself completely and absolutely to him, he would always feel that, because of his relative poverty, he was imposing on her.
But there was only one thing that mattered, Clova thought as he kissed her and went on kissing her.
Nothing else in the whole world was of any consequence except that Tarquil should love her.
She would do anything, anything he asked of her, rather than lose him.
Although there might be difficulties ahead because of his pride and because his Clan had not the standing of hers, she knew that somehow she would be tactful and clever enough to make him forget it.
“I love you! I love you – Tarquil!” she said aloud, when he raised his head.
Her lips were a little bruised from his kisses, but now her eyes were shining and her cheeks were flushed.
“You are mine,” he asserted fiercely, “mine! And no one shall take you from me. At the same time, my darling, I doubt if the McBlanes will approve of your choice of a husband.”
“They did not worry about me in the past,” Clova replied, “and, if Uncle Rory had not died, I could have remained in exile without their giving me as much as – a thought. Now since Fate has brought me back to the Clan, I am prepared to devote my life to – their service.”
She looked up at him and there was a note of anxiety in her voice as she went on,
“Y-you will not mind – that Mama did not – behave very well according to people like Euan McBlane and the Elders? I am afraid too that the Elders of the McCowans may disapprove of me and think that I am not the right – wife for you.”
“If they do, they will not say so to me,” Tarquil replied.
Then with a faint smile he added,
“I realise, my darling, exactly what you are saying to me and why you are saying it and I adore you for being so tactful.”
He kissed her before he carried on,
“But I know, as you do, that our love is greater than all the difficulties and problems that we may both have to face personally.”
“I don’t want to – think about – them,” Clova said quickly. “I just want to think about you – and let you – manage everything.”
“That is exactly what I intend to do,” he replied.
He put his cheek very tenderly against hers as he said,
“You don’t deceive me at all! Everything you s
ay makes me realise how adorable you are and at the same time that, when you want to have your own way, you are very clever about it.”
Clova moved a little closer to him.
“I want my own way in only one thing,” she whispered, “and that is that – you should – marry me.”
He did not answer for a moment and she looked at him a little apprehensively.
“I have been thinking it over,” he said after a moment, “and I feel that I should make up my own mind about you. So, my beautiful, fascinating little Chieftain, I will assert my prerogative as a man and ask you, if necessary, of course, on bended knee, if you will honour me by becoming my wife?”
Clova gave a little cry.
“You said it! That is what I – wanted you to – say! Oh, darling, darling Tarquil – my answer is ‘yes’. I love you! I promise I will try in – every way to make you – happy.”
Tarquil laughed.
“I will arrange that our Wedding will be a demonstration to the whole of Scotland that the ancient hostility between the Clans is now out of date. In celebrating our marriage we will show this by making sure that a Clansman from every Clan in the Highlands is represented.
Clova clasped her hands together.
“Oh, Tarquil, what a wonderful idea! Nothing could be more effective, because I am sure that everybody, wherever they live all over the world, enjoys a Wedding.”
“And everybody loves a lover,” Tarquil added quietly. “That is what we will be, my darling, lovers now and for ever, setting an example of love and happiness to everybody we meet.”
“Oh, Tarquil.”
The tears were now back in Clova’s eyes, but tears of happiness and joy as she knew that he had surrendered to her insistence.
And he was showing the initiative and authority that would be his for the rest of their lives together.
She put up her arm to draw his head down to hers.
“I love you – I love you!” she murmured. “There are – no other words to tell you how – wonderful you are!”
She saw the light in his eyes and there was also a hint of fire in them.
Then he was kissing her once again, kissing her to show her that he not only adored and worshipped her but at the same time possessed her.
A Conqueror and a Victor after a hard battle.
OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
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
The Wings of Ecstacy
Mission to Monte Carlo
Revenge of the Heart
The Unbreakable Spell
Never Laugh at Love
Bride to a Brigand
Lucifer and the Angel
Journey to a Star
Solita and the Spies
The Chieftain Without a Heart
No Escape from Love
Dollars for the duke
Pure and Untouched
Secrets
Fire in the Blood
Love, Lies and Marriage
The Ghost who Fell in Love
Hungry for Love
The Wild Cry of Love
The Blue-eyed Witch
The Punishment of a Vixen
The Secret of the Glen
Bride to the King
For All Eternity
King in Love
A Marriage made in Heaven
Who can deny Love?
Riding to the Moon
Wish for Love
Dancing on a Rainbow
Gypsy Magic
Love in the Clouds
Count the Stars
White Lilac
Too Precious to Lose
The Devil Defeated
An Angel Runs Away
The Duchess Disappeared
The Pretty Horse-breakers
The Prisoner of Love
Ola and the Sea Wolf
The Castle made for Love
A Heart is Stolen
The Love Pirate
As Eagles Fly
The Magic of Love
Love Leaves at Midnight
A Witch’s Spell
Love Comes West
The Impetuous Duchess
A Tangled Web
Love lifts the Curse
Saved By A Saint
Love is Dangerous
The Poor Governess
The Peril and the Prince
A Very Unusual Wife
Say Yes Samantha
Punished with love
A Royal Rebuke
The Husband Hunters
Signpost To Love
Love Forbidden
Gift Of the Gods
The Outrageous Lady
The Slaves Of Love
The Disgraceful Duke
The Unwanted Wedding
Lord Ravenscar’s Revenge
From Hate to Love
A Very Naughty Angel
The Innocent Imposter
A Rebel Princess
A Wish Comes True
Haunted
Passions In The Sand
Little White Doves of Love
A Portrait of Love
The Enchanted Waltz
Alone and Afraid
The Call of the Highlands
The Glittering Lights
An Angel in Hell
Only a Dream
A Nightingale Sang
Pride and the Poor Princess
Stars in my Heart
The Fire of Love
A Dream from the Night
Sweet Enchantress
The Kiss of the Devil
Fascination in France
Love Runs In
Lost Enchantment
Love is Innocent
The Love Trap
No Darkness for Love
Kiss from a Stranger
The Flame Is Love
A Touch of Love
The Dangerous Dandy
In Love In Lucca
The Karma Of Love
Magic For The Heart
Paradise Found
Only Love
A Duel with Destiny
The Heart of the Clan
The Ruthless Rake
Revenge is Sweet
Fire on the Snow
A Revolution of Love
Love at the Helm
Listen to Love
Love Casts out Fear
The Devilish Deception
Riding in the Sky
The Wonderful Dream
This Time it’s Love
The River of Love
A Gentleman in Love
The Island of Love
Miracle for a Madonna
The Storms of Love
The Prince and the Pekingese
The Golden Cage
Theresa and a T
iger
The Goddess of Love
Alone in Paris
The Earl Rings a Belle
The Runaway Heart
From Hell to Heaven
Love in the Ruins
Crowned with Love
Love is a Maze
Hidden by Love
Love is the Key
A Miracle in Music
The Race for Love
Call of the Heart
The Curse of the Clan
Saved by Love
The Tears of Love
Winged Magic
Born of Love
Love Holds the Cards
A Chieftain Finds Love
The Horizons of Love
The Marquis Wins
A Duke in Danger
Warned by a Ghost
Forced to Marry
Sweet Adventure
Love is a Gamble
Love on the Wind
Looking for Love
Love is the Enemy
The Passion and the Flower
The Reluctant Bride
Safe in Paradise
The Temple of Love
Love at First Sight
The Scots Never Forget
The Golden Gondola
No Time for Love
Love in the Moon
A Hazard of Hearts
Just Fate
The Kiss of Paris
Little Tongues of Fire
Love Under Fire
The Magnificent Marriage
Moon over Eden
The Dream and the Glory
A Victory for Love
A Princess in Distress
A Gamble with Hearts
Love Strikes a Devil
In the Arms of Love
Love in the Dark
Love Wins
The Marquis who Hated Women
Love is Invincible
Love Climbs in
The Queen Saves the King
The Duke Comes Home
Love Joins the Clans
The Power and the Prince
THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND
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.