Showing results by narrator "Anthony Wren" in All Categories

The beautiful Princess Vasila, an orphan, who has been looked after by Baroness von Bergstein in a Grace and Favour house, is astonished when an Equerry arrives to take her to Windsor Castle to see the Queen. She is not told until she arrives that Prince Gadelov of Saralovia, which is a small Balkan State, has appealed to Queen Victoria to give him a Royal British wife so that he can be protected from the grasping Russians. When the Queen tells Vasila that she is to marry Prince Gadelov immediately, she is horrified and very frightened.

Lady Lolita Vernon, daughter of the late Earl of Walcott and Vernon, has run away. Her stepfather, Ralph Piran, is forcing her to accept the attentions and perhaps an offer of marriage from his business partner, Murdock Tanner, who is very rich but old and repulsive. While she is trying to cover her tracks in London she bumps into a small boy, Simon, who is weeping because he has been beaten cruelly by his stepmother.

The beautiful Vanessa Shotworth was being made extremely unhappy at the way she was being treated by her stepmother while her beloved father was away in India with his Regiment. When she was late for breakfast because she had been out riding on a lovely summer’s morning, she was humiliated by her stepmother by being told to scrub the kitchen floor or she will not be given anything to eat. Vanessa then decided to run away to her relatives in the North of England, having elicited the help of the faithful family butler, Bates.

Viola Brookfield has not a care in the world until the awful day when her parents are tragically killed in a road accident, leaving her all alone in the world. So when her Aunt Mary, Lady Wakefield, writes to invite her to come and live with her in India, Viola decides to accept. But when she arrives, she finds a country fraught with unexpected dangers and that her uncle, Lord Wakefield, behaves as if she is not welcome. Viola's life is further complicated when she meets the handsome but enigmatic Earl of Devonport.

The beautiful Aurora Hartnell has just left her Finishing School in Paris and returns home to Hadleigh Hall. It is Christmas Eve and she hears that an eligible bachelor, Lord Moreton, has moved into nearby Elton Hall. Aurora dreams that he is handsome, tall and exciting - until she meets him and finds that he is none of them. In no time Aurora has received an unwelcome proposal of marriage from Lord Moreton, but he appears to be strangely close to her intimidating stepmother, Lady Hartnell.

Daughter of the Earl of Longwood, a gentleman gambler, and the Countess of Longwood, a society beauty, Lady Yolanda Wood has an exciting if unconventional childhood travelling around the casinos and racecourses of Europe. But life changes dramatically after the tragic death of her father, and she and her ravishing mother are left penniless and alone. In mourning for her husband, and dependent on the kindness of selfmade millionaire Oliver Garrack, the Countess's gratitude swiftly turns to romance and Yolanda finds herself with a stepfather she neither likes nor respects.

Michael Belmont is heir to an Earldom, but he is also the family black sheep, a charming gambler leading a dissolute life in France. He has quarrelled with his father, who has threatened to disinherit him. When he reads in a newspaper that his father has died, he does not even have enough money for his fare home. But then he meets the beautiful young Lady Verna, seeking a chauffeur to drive her car home to England. Michael volunteers and while they are on the journey he falls under her spell.

She was fleeing from an unwelcome marriage and so was he. When Selina sought shelter with the Marquis of Castleton, she never dreamed that it would lead to them being chased across Europe in a powerful yacht. Before long she was embroiled in a rollicking adventure. Dressed as a man to avoid detection, Selina fell into one scrape after another, yet always knowing that the Marquis would rescue her. But she was despairingly sure that he saw her only as a child and she was beginning to long for more.

Heir to the throne of Valdina, beautiful Attila vows two things - to do everything in her power to return her beloved sick father, King Sigismund, to health and to find true love. But it seems that her stepmother, the scheming and selfish Queen Margit has other ideas for her future. Desperate to marry her as quickly as possible to Prince Otto, a young man with a shadowy past, Queen Margit's eyes are set firmly on the throne for herself. And it seems she will stop at nothing to get her own way and rule Valdina alone.

After the death of her great-uncle, orphan Lady Rosanna Donnington was overwhelmed to learn he had left her his vast fortune. It was then her life changed and she became the target of unscrupulous fortune hunters. But she was determined to marry only for love. When the loutish Sir Walter Fenwick insisted she marry him, Rosanna decided enough was enough. She fled London and journeyed to Donnington Hall, her new country estate.

Valeria Montford is beautiful, proud and romantic. When she meets the reticent Lord Waterford in France, everything goes wrong and she hates him for making her feel humiliated. Then she meets Sir Peter Cousins - devastatingly handsome, he is much more exciting and appears strongly attracted to her. Back in England, Valeria's beloved father tells her that a cad has defrauded him of his fortune and that she is his only chance of escaping penury. The rich Lord Waterford has offered to marry her and free him from his debts.

The Earl of Bracken is meeting his good friend Captain Charles Kenwood at his Club in St. James's Street. He has just returned from a visit to Syria where he had been introduced to Sheik Abu Hamid, the owner of the most magnificent Arab horses the Earl has ever seen. They are both keen to buy horses from the Sheik who is reluctant to sell unless his greatest wish can be fulfilled.

Justina Mansell, the youngest daughter of Lord and Lady Mansell, is told that her sister has been invited to visit India, but cannot accept. So Justina jumps at the chance to go in her place. Her aunt arranges for her to be chaperoned on board ship by the stately Mrs. Arbuthnot, who is travelling with her two daughters and her little terrier, Muffin. Justina is quickly attracted to the good-looking Sir Thomas Watson who is most attentive and much admires her beauty when he joins the Arbuthnot table for dinner.

Simona Bell, the lovely daughter of Lord Belgrave, has been invited by her friend, Karoline von Honentaal to stay with her family in Berlin. Simona finds that Karoline's father, the Baron, owns an amazing collection of art which interests her greatly. Alone for a moment, she finds her way into the Baron's private Sanctuary, where she admires an unusual Sedan Chair. Hearing voices and frightened she might be discovered, she slips into the Sedan Chair and closes the door.

Major Michael Moore has been playing a very dangerous part in the Great Game in India where he foils a plot to kill the Viceroy who tells Michael he is now a marked man and that he must return to England immediately. To his astonishment on his way home he reads in a newspaper that following the death of his grandfather he has become the Duke of Grangemoore.

Sir John Gilmour has received a letter from his old friend Gavron Murillo, who lives in Paris to say that he only has a very short time to live and wants to see him urgently before he dies. Gavron, who was of Oriental appearance and a very rich man, had helped Sir John and his father with their finances when they had been almost on the point of bankruptcy and he had made them very wealthy. When Sir John arrives at Gavron’s bedside, the old man tells him that his dying wish is that he should marry his daughter, the beautiful Melita.

The beautiful Lady Diana Dinsdale’s father has died and shortly afterwards her mother dies as well and she is heartbroken at the loss of both her beloved parents. After the Earl of Dinsdale’s death, her mother had married again to William Walker, a rich businessman who is cynically seeking to improve his standing socially to help his financial interests to make him even richer. And now Diana is all alone except for her grasping stepfather.

The Marquis of Darincourt who is the greatest matrimonial catch in the Beau Monde decides at last that he will get married and has chosen Lady Charlotte Warde to be his wife. He has been pursued for years by every debutante and ambitious mother, but he has, however, preferred the sophisticated married women who amuse him with their provocative wit and attractions. He is a hero from the war with Napoleon and the Duke Wellington had twice awarded him the Gold Medal for Bravery.

The beautiful Martina Bradshaw has sadly lost both her beloved father and her loving mother. They live in the little Kent village of Preston Bailey where her father, a talented musician, had written his music, which had never been successful with the public. Now Martina has to find a way of making money to pay her household of Mrs.

Colonel Storton has set his mind on his beautiful daughter, Alvina, marrying a man with money and a grand title. When Lord Hillborough became their next door neighbour in the country, the Colonel considered him to be an excellent husband for Alvina, but she found him repulsive and could not bear even to be touched by him. She therefore decided to leave her home and run away to avoid having to marry a man she did not love and could never love. When she saw a large and impressive yacht at a nearby Port, she went aboard and hid as a stowaway.