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    The King Wins
    The King Wins
    The King Wins
    Ebook180 pages2 hours

    The King Wins

    By Barbara Cartland

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    About this ebook

    King Martiza of Salamos has fallen asleep when he suddenly becomes aware that something is moving in his room.
    To his astonishment he finds that it is Princess Veria who has come for his Coronation which is to take place the very next day.
    She, as her father has died, is now ruling the State of Kavolana which is a smaller Balkan country bordering on his.
    In a whisper she tells him that she has discovered a plot by her Prime Minister and his Cabinet to drug her so that she is found by them in his bed and then forced to marry her to save her reputation.
    The King realises that he has a bad reputation for pursuing beautiful women.
    But he has in fact no intention of getting married.
    He does, however, know that his Government has always wanted Kavolana to be joined to Salamos to make the two countries more significant together.
    It is more important now than at any other time because of the policy of the Russians who are infiltrating the Balkans and taking over every small Kingdom and Principality that they can.
    The King helps the Princess to escape from his bedroom in a very unconventional manner.
    Then he finds after his Coronation that he becomes involved in the difficulties of her country.
    They become friends as each of them realises that the other has no intention of marrying under any circumstances.
    The King is fully aware of the danger that their two countries are in.
    The Russians then think up a plot to marry Princess Veria to a Russian Prince and take over Kavolana that way.
    The King then turns to Queen Victoria for help as Great Britain is
    the only country that Russia has no wish to offend or fight.
    The King and the Princess save their countries, but they cannot save themselves from their own feelings.
    Finally, both the King and the Princess find happiness, which is all told in this unusual romance by BARBARA CARTLAND.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBarbara Cartland Ebooks ltd
    Release dateDec 12, 2016
    ISBN9781782139355
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      Book preview

      The King Wins - Barbara Cartland

      Cartland

      CHAPTER ONE ~ 1886

      King Martiza was fast asleep when he was vaguely aware that something was moving in his bedroom.

      He was much too tired to wonder what it could be because he had been late coming to bed.

      That was a mistake, because he was being formally crowned the very next day in the beautiful Cathedral of the City.

      His father had died a month ago.

      And he had deliberately waited until he felt that it was proper for him to hold a Coronation.

      It had, of course, aroused a great deal of commotion in Salamos.

      Anyone who was of any importance in the Balkans wanted to be present at the Coronation.

      Accommodation had to be found for them all in the City and the King’s Palace was already full of guests.

      Dinner had therefore taken a long time with course after course being served.

      There had been music for the visitors to listen to after the sumptuous meal had finished.

      The King had had his health drunk a hundred times and he had to reply.

      It was nearly two o’clock when he finally retired to his bed.

      He told his valet not to call him until the very last moment before he must dress in his robes to travel in State to the Cathedral.

      Now to his considerable annoyance something was waking him up.

      He tried hard to ignore it.

      Then he suddenly became aware, although it really seemed incredible, that something was being placed down on the bed beside him.

      ‘I must be dreaming,’ he told himself.  ‘If I ignore it, I shall go back to sleep.’

      He tried not to listen.

      However, he was almost certain that someone had crossed the room and very quietly closed the door.

      ‘Ignore it,’ he told himself again.

      Then he was aware that something really seemed to be on the bed beside him.

      Irritably he turned round.

      As he did so, a very soft voice whispered,

      If you are awake, get up and lock the door.

      Once again the King thought that he really must be dreaming.

      He opened his eyes.

      The room was in darkness except for the moonlight coming in through the sides of the curtains.

      It gave him just enough light to see that there was someone in his bed beside him.

      What the devil – he began to mutter.

      And then, even more to his astonishment, two soft fingers on his lips forced him into silence.

      Do not speak, the voice which had spoken before whispered, "because they may be listening.  But very very quietly get up and lock the door."

      Whoever it was left her fingers a little longer on his mouth just in case he disobeyed her instructions.

      Then, as she took them away, the King, feeling that there was nothing else he could do, climbed wearily out of his bed.

      He picked up the long robe that his valet had left on a chair.

      He put it on before he walked in his bare feet over to the door.

      He turned the key very gently in the lock, as he had been told to do.

      Then, before he walked back towards the bed, he went to the window.

      He pulled back the curtains.

      As he turned round, the occupant of his bed sat up.

      Without being told he realised that he should not speak to her from across the room.

      He therefore moved to her side of the bed and stood looking down at her.

      Now, in the moonlight, he could see her face.

      Princess Veria! he exclaimed in disbelief.  What on earth are you doing here?

      He had seen her only that night at the formal dinner party.

      He knew, although they had not met before now, that she was the Ruler of Kavolana.

      It was the nearest country to his own in the Balkans and in point of fact their borders touched each other in several places.

      She had therefore been given a place of honour at the table.

      It was not beside him, but near enough for him to see and hear her.

      She was, he had thought to himself vaguely, rather pretty.

      He had not, as it so happened taken any particular notice of her.

      Before he could speak she said still in the whisper that she had used before,

      This is a plot.  I will tell you about it, but we have to be quick.

      A plot? the King questioned.

      She pointed to the foot of the bed and without any argument he sat down on it.

      I must – he began.

      Again she silenced him with a gesture.

      Let me tell you just what is happening, she said.  I learned, fortunately in time, that my Prime Minister and several of my Council intend to drug me.  When I was unconscious, they planned to bring me here and place me in your bed.

      I don’t believe it, the King murmured beneath his breath.

      They are desperately anxious, the Princess went on, because of the Russian menace, that our two countries should be united.  Otherwise mine, if not yours as well, will be overrun.

      The King was only too well aware that the Russians were now infiltrating the Balkans in the most unscrupulous manner.  And stirring up endless trouble wherever it was possible.

      So it gave them an excuse for going into a country ostensibly as they claimed, ‘to keep the peace’.

      What it really amounted to was a take-over by force of arms.

      You may escape, the Princess was saying, but it is unlikely, for I think that there are members among your Councillors who have agreed to what mine are doing.

      I don’t quite understand, he managed to say.

      I am to be found unconscious in your bed, the Princess replied, and, if you drank what they had left for you in some of the wine and water, you too would be unconscious for I would think a little while longer.

      Astonished, the King glanced towards his dressing table.

      He had noticed when he came to bed that there was a glass of wine on it.

      There was always a jug of water beside his bed, as he frequently felt thirsty during the night.

      Tonight, as he had already had so much to drink downstairs at the dinner party, he had climbed into his bed without touching either glass.

      He found it very hard to believe that they had been drugged.

      What is going to happen, the Princess went on, is that in a very short time, perhaps half an hour or a little more, my Prime Minister, the Lord Chamberlain and the Archbishop of my country will come into this room.  They will accuse you of seducing me and the only way that you can make reparation will be, of course, to ask me to be your wife.

      The King was staring at her in sheer astonishment.

      I don’t believe it.  How can you possibly know all this? he asked.

      The Princess smiled.

      I have had a small hole bored in the wall of the Council Chamber at my Palace.  I was fortunate enough to overhear what has been planned for me.  Now you know why I am here, you have to help me to escape.

      How can I do so? the King asked.

      As I have had to think of everything, the Princess replied, as soon as I arrived, I sent my maid, whom I can trust, to put an arrangement of special orchids, which only grow in Kavolana on your dressing table.

      The King looked towards it, but it was too dark to see anything.

      There was a servant in this room arranging your clothes, the Princess then continued.  When he was not looking, she dropped behind your dressing table a silk rope which I intend to let myself down from the balcony into the garden on.

      She paused for a moment before she added,

      Now, as you are awake, it will be much better if you tie the rope to the balcony and dispose of it later so that they will not know how I was able to get away from them.

      The King put his hand up to his forehead.

      The whole thing sounds to me like a story out of a book, he said.  Can your Ministers really behave in such an appalling manner?

      They have tried in every way they can to make me marry since my father died, the Princess carried on. They resent being ruled by a woman, but I am perfectly capable and strong enough to rule Kavolana as I sincerely intend to do.

      I think that they may well have a point there, the King commented.

      "You would say that, the Princess retorted.  But I am quite sure that, as you do not want me as your wife, you will be willing to help me escape from here."

      If you really mean that they are coming to accuse me of ruining your reputation, the King said.  I will, of course, help you in every way I can, although what you are suggesting is somewhat dangerous.

      The Princess gave a little laugh.

      She looked, he thought, rather attractive as she did so.

      Her long fair hair was falling across her shoulders and her large eyes seemed to completely fill her face.

      I will promise you one thing, she said, I have no wish to marry you under any circumstances.

      Why not? the King asked.  Most women like the idea of being a Queen and I suppose sooner or later I shall have to take a wife.

      And how sorry I would be for her.

      What do you mean by that? the King asked her almost sharply.

      I could not imagine anything worse, the Princess replied, than having a husband who is beguiled by every pretty face he sees.

      The King stiffened, but he did not react and she went on,

      Just think how ugly the Ladies-in-Waiting I would have to choose would have to be.

      The King laughed heartily at her assertion as if he could not help it.

      I think that you are an extremely insulting young woman, he said.  But you are very right and I would be frightened to be married to anyone like you.

      Not half as frightened as I should be, the Princess retorted.  Your reputation, Your Majesty, loses nothing in the telling from the stories that we hear in Kavolana and I imagine that they would be even more scandalous closer to home.

      The King just had to admit to himself that this was something that he could not deny.

      He found women attractive.

      Although his love affairs did not last for long, there had been a considerable number of them.

      I suppose the trouble with me, he admitted, is that I very quickly become bored.

      You will be even more bored, she replied, if I don’t hurry and get away from here.  They are coming to confront you with this your latest sin and I am only sorry that I shall not see their faces when they find that I am not lying here doped, as they expected, but have flown out of the window like a bird.

      So how would they have drugged you? the King asked.

      Oh, the usual way.  One of my Ladies-in-Waiting, who I already knew is in their confidence, brought me a nightcap.  She said that it was mostly of honey and would make me sleep peacefully after what had been a long day with an even longer day tomorrow.

      Would you have taken it from her under normal circumstances? the King enquired.

      I might have, but, as I was prepared, I asked her to fetch something from my dressing table and, while she was doing so, I poured all of the drink onto the floor behind my bed.

      Then what happened?

      As soon as she thought that I had passed out, the Princess said, she hurried away to tell the Prime Minister.  Sure enough just half an hour later two men came into my room, lifted me up, thinking I was completely unconscious, and carried me in here to you.

      I have never heard of anything more shocking! the King exclaimed.

      They did it very cleverly, she said.  And, if you too had been drugged, you would not have realised what had happened when they burst into your room to confront you.

      And the rope is really behind my dressing table? the King questioned.

      Look for yourself, the Princess answered.

      Because he was still finding the whole story almost unbelievable, the King then rose and went to his dressing table.

      It was a high beautifully inlaid chest of drawers and

      on it there was a

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