an old friend, Lord Shield, and tells him all his woes. Lord Shield is in a bad way himself, but does suggest that he visits a certain Mr. Randon who is temporarily in London and beg for his help. Mr. Randon has made a fortune in America and used to be a good friend of the Earl's father.

The Earl goes off in some trepidation to a hotel to meet Mr. Randon, who is very ill and on the verge of dying.

He tells him his sad story and is astonished when Mr. Randon makes him a most extraordinary proposition.

If he will agree to marry his daughter, Kristina, at eleven o'clock the next morning, the Earl will receive a very large sum to rescue and restore his estate!

The Earl has no option but to accept and is faced with marrying someone he has never met within just a few hours.

Equally Kristina is forced into marriage with a complete stranger by her forceful father.

How the Earl and Kristina manage to cope with their joint predicament, find out about each other and eventually gain everything theirs hearts could desire is told in this enthralling romantic story by BARBARA CARTLAND.

If you like Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland.

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.