The Peril and The Prince

Vida Anstruther's father has gone missing on his latest secret mission, ostensibly to Hungary and her sixth sense tells her that he has actually gone undercover to Russia and is in desperate danger, perhaps at the ruthless hands of the Czar's Secret Police.
Having informed the Marquis of Salisbury, the British Foreign Secretary, of her intentions, she sets off under a false name, accompanied only by her faithful Nanny, Margit, and a Courier.
Vida journeys into Russia, where she meets the supremely handsome notorious womaniser and 'pet' of the Czar, the playboy Prince Ivan Pavolivski, and instantly falls under his spell.
Vida stays with the Prince at his stunningly beautiful castle and she is tempted to trust him, but is horrified when she overhears him talking with a Russian Secret Agent and it seems that the Prince is one of the enemy!
But at least now she has learnt that her father is hiding in a nearby Monastery and flees the Prince's castle to go to his rescue.
Even as her heart swells with hope for Sir Harvey Anstruther, it breaks in the knowledge that the Prince she now loves is bent on betraying him.

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.