A BATTLE OF BRAINS
BARBARA CARTLAND
www.barbaracartland.com
Copyright © 2009 by Cartland Promotions
First published on the internet in September 2009
The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent.
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A BATTLE OF BRAINS
Suddenly the door behind her was flung open.
Yolanda turned round, terrified.
Mr. Watson was standing there with the light from his bedroom behind him.
He was wearing only a silk nightshirt.
For a moment he stared at her and then he asked in a thick voice,
“What do you want? What are you doing here?”
Yolanda moved forward so that he should not see the open case behind her.
“I just – came in,” she stammered in a frightened voice, “to see that you have – everything you – want.”
“Everything I want? I thought that was what I had,” he slurred in a drunken tone. “Now I see you, I know you are what I want!”
As he spoke, he lurched forward towards her.
Realising what he had implied, Yolanda turned to run away.
But she was too late.
THE BARBARA CARTLAND PINK COLLECTION
Barbara Cartland was the most prolific bestselling author in the history of the world. She was frequently in the Guinness Book of Records for writing more books in a year than any other living author. In fact her most amazing literary feat was when her publishers asked for more Barbara Cartland romances, she doubled her output from 10 books a year to over 20 books a year, when she was 77.
She went on writing continuously at this rate for 20 years and wrote her last book at the age of 97, thus completing 400 books between the ages of 77 and 97.
Her publishers finally could not keep up with this phenomenal output, so at her death she left 160 unpublished manuscripts, something again that no other author has ever achieved.
Now the exciting news is that these 160 original unpublished Barbara Cartland books are ready for publication and they will be published by Barbaracartland.com exclusively on the internet, as the web is the best possible way to reach so many Barbara Cartland readers around the world.
The 160 books will be published monthly and will be numbered in sequence.
The series is called the Pink Collection as a tribute to Barbara Cartland whose favourite colour was pink and it became very much her trademark over the years.
The Barbara Cartland Pink Collection is published only on the internet. Log on to www.barbaracartland.com to find out how you can purchase the books monthly as they are published, and take out a subscription that will ensure that all subsequent editions are delivered to you by mail order to your home.
If you do not have access to a computer you can write for information about the Pink Collection to the following address :
Barbara Cartland.com Ltd.
240 High Road,
Harrow Weald,
Harrow
HA3 7BB
United Kingdom.
Telephone & fax: +44 (0)20 8863 2520
Titles in this series
These titles are currently available for download. For more information please see the Where to buy page at the end of this book.
1. The Cross Of Love
2. Love In The Highlands
3. Love Finds The Way
4. The Castle Of Love
5. Love Is Triumphant
6. Stars In The Sky
7. The Ship Of Love
8. A Dangerous Disguise
9. Love Became Theirs
10. Love Drives In
11. Sailing To Love
12. The Star Of Love
13. Music Is The Soul Of Love
14. Love In The East
15. Theirs To Eternity
16. A Paradise On Earth
17. Love Wins In Berlin
18. In Search Of Love
19. Love Rescues Rosanna
20. A Heart In Heaven
21. The House Of Happiness
22. Royalty Defeated By Love
23. The White Witch
24. They Sought Love
25. Love Is The Reason For Living
26. They Found Their Way To Heaven
27. Learning To Love
28. Journey To Happiness
29. A Kiss In The Desert
30. The Heart Of Love
31. The Richness Of Love
32. For Ever And Ever
33. An Unexpected Love
34. Saved By An Angel
35. Touching The Stars
36. Seeking Love
37. Journey To Love
38. The Importance Of Love
39. Love By The Lake
40. A Dream Come True
41. The King Without A Heart
42. The Waters Of Love
43. Danger To The Duke
44. A Perfect Way To Heaven
45. Follow Your Heart
46. In Hiding
47. Rivals For Love
48. A Kiss From The Heart
49. Lovers In London
50. This Way To Heaven
51. A Princess Prays
52. Mine For Ever
53. The Earl’s Revenge
54. Love At The Tower
55. Ruled By Love
56. Love Came From Heaven
57. Love And Apollo
58. The Keys Of Love
59. A Castle Of Dreams
60. A Battle of Brains
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.
Although she is often referred to as the ‘Queen of Romance’, Barbara Cartland also wrote several historical biographies, six autobiographies and numerous theatrical plays as well as books on life, love, health and cookery. Becoming one of Britain's most popular media personalities and dressed in her trademark pink, Barbara spoke on radio and television about social and political issues, as well as making many public appearances.
In 1991 she became a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to literature and her work for humanitarian and charitable causes.
Known for her glamour, style, and vitality Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime. Best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels and loved by millions of readers worldwide, her books remain treasured for their heroic heroes, plucky heroines and traditional values. But above all, it was Barbara Cartland’s overriding belief in the positive power of love to help, hea
l and improve the quality of life for everyone that made her truly unique.
“To find true love you need your brains and your body, but most important of all is your soul.”
Barbara Cartland
CHAPTER ONE
1889
Yolanda laid the flowers on her mother’s grave and said a prayer as she did so.
She found it hard to believe that she would never again see her mother she adored.
She had already cried herself to sleep every night since she learnt of her death.
It seemed that she had no more tears to shed.
It had happened so suddenly, so unexpectedly that even now it was difficult to believe.
She still expected her mother to be waiting for her.
She would be holding out her arms as she always did when they had been away from each other.
Yolanda had been a pupil at a Convent school just outside Paris.
Four days ago the Mother Superior had sent for her and she had gone slowly to her office wondering what she had done wrong.
She never dreamt it could be a message from home.
The Mother Superior had broken the dreadful news to her gently, but at the same time it was such a shock that for a moment the news was impossible to believe.
Yolanda felt as if the ground had been pulled from under her.
They had been through so much together since her father died and she had believed for a long time that the only safe and secure rock in her life was her mother.
Now she was dead too and Yolanda knew that she was alone.
It was only after a very long silence that the Mother Superior said,
“Your stepfather, Yolanda, has asked you to return home at once, which I feel certain you will wish to do. You will unfortunately be too late to attend your mother’s funeral, but he wants you to be with him.”
Yolanda had given a little shiver.
She never wished to be with her stepfather and she could not understand why he wanted her now.
Equally if he ordered her to return, there was really nothing she could do about it.
She had had plenty of time to ponder her situation on the long journey home, accompanied by an ancient nun who had been instructed to chaperone her.
For hours Yolanda was silent, looking back into the past and seeing everything in a very different way.
Her dearest father, the Earl of Longwood, had been the most handsome, charming and delightful man anyone could possibly meet.
Wherever they were and whatever was happening, they always seemed to be laughing.
Yolanda believed no one could have been happier than she had been with two such wonderful parents.
It was only as she grew up that she understood.
The many difficulties, frustrations and moments of despair in her parent’s lives became clearer.
Her father, after inheriting the Earldom, was given a dreadful shock – except for the title that had been in the family for several centuries, he received nothing else from his father.
The Fifth Earl had spent considerably more than his income and he had sold everything that was saleable.
The London house had gone first and then all the land in the country that had not been entailed, such as the house and its contents.
It was heartbreaking for the new Earl.
His father had left a considerable number of debts too, which more or less equalled his own and, as far as he could see, there was no chance of meeting them.
He was therefore forced to let out the family house and estate, which brought him in a little money.
He, his wife and daughter had then moved into the Dower House.
Yolanda did not know exactly when her father took up gambling, but she could understand, now she was older, that it was a desperate effort to win back something after all he had lost.
She suspected that some of the possessions in the house that he had dared not sell went to the pawnbroker.
They were usually small items that would not be noticed by the Trustees, who visited the house and estate every six months to check that everything was intact.
At first the Earl was very lucky at his gambling – he won at racing, cards and, when they travelled abroad, in the casinos as well.
As she grew up, Yolanda was fascinated when her father came back smiling.
He would throw up his arms in delight.
“I have won! I have won!” he would call out to her mother. “Now we can enjoy ourselves and, my darling, you must have the most beautiful jewels I can find.”
Her mother accepted the gifts and Yolanda believed it was because inevitably sooner or later they would have to be sold or pawned.
The only presents her mother did not lose were the many pretty gowns that her father had bought for her.
“You will always be very beautiful, my precious,” he would tell his wife. “But I like your frame to be worthy of your beauty.”
Because her mother had loved him so completely, she always did whatever he wanted, regardless of the consequences.
Yolanda remembered affectionately how sweet and kind she was when things went wrong.
They would know only too well exactly what had happened after an evening’s gambling had not gone well.
Her father would enter the room in a slow way and the expression on his face told them before he spoke what had occurred.
“I have lost,” he groaned. “I cannot think why luck had turned against me.”
“You are asking too much, my dearest,” her mother would say. “You won last month and indeed the month before, but you cannot expect to win every time.”
Sometimes when things were bad they would have to leave the comfortable hotel they had been staying in, which meant moving into very uncomfortable lodgings and eating inferior food.
But invariably, in some way or another, her father was able to find the money to carry on gambling.
It was indeed a strange life, Yolanda mused, as the train carried her from Paris to Calais.
She had visited Baden-Baden in Germany with her parents and found the town incredibly beautiful. And she had spent several weeks in Hamburg.
They had then travelled back to London after one of her father’s more successful spells at the roulette tables and rented a house in Mayfair.
He had then been in touch with several of his old friends whom he had not seen for many years, and they had been delighted to see him again.
They made a great fuss of the beautiful Countess of Longwood too, much to the delight of her adoring husband.
Next a governess was engaged for Yolanda and she enjoyed going to Hyde Park to see the horses in Rotten Row.
The beautiful Society ladies, like her mother, drove in an open Victoria, an elegant French carriage with a raised driver's seat drawn by two magnificent horses. Accompanied by a liveried coachman, the ladies rode through the parks of London with small sunshades held up over their heads.
Then she recalled how very suddenly her father had decided to go to Paris, as he wanted to attend the racing that was about to take place on the new Racecourse in the Bois de Boulogne.
“I know which horse is going to win the big race,” he boasted, “and I intend to make a packet on him!”
Her mother agreed with him as she always did.
So they set off for Paris and stayed at a large and impressive hotel.
As a special treat Yolanda was allowed to go to the Racecourse and she had known without being told that the racehorses she saw were the finest in Europe.
The horse which her father had come to see run was outstanding and she was well aware that a great number of people were putting their money on him to win.
The race was thrilling and the horses moved at an almost impossible speed, sweeping like typhoons past the winning post.
But the horse her father had backed was not in the first three.
The result was such a surprise to a large number of race goers that a groan echoed around the enclosure.
It was then that her father had exclaimed angrily,
“I don’t believe it! The whole race was a cheat and there should be a full enquiry as to why the favourite was pulled in at the last moment!”
Unfortunately, the horse’s owner, who took umbrage at the suggestion of cheating, overheard her father’s loud comments.
Yolanda was not quite certain what happened between them, but upon returning to the hotel that evening, she was horrified to discover that her father was expected to fight a duel at dawn the next morning.
Her mother was distraught at the prospect.
“You cannot do it, darling,” she wept over and over again. “You have not fought a duel for many years and these Frenchmen are experts at it.”
“It is something I cannot refuse,” replied the Earl, “and, damn him, he has lost us every penny we possess!”
Yolanda remembered that her mother had not been in the slightest concerned about the losses – she was only worried about her father fighting in a duel.
She was still pleading with him desperately to refuse to take part when they retired to bed.
“You know as well as I do,” insisted the Earl, “that I have to behave like a gentleman. It would besmirch my honour to refuse!”
There was nothing further her mother could say to dissuade him, but Yolanda could see the tears in her eyes.
They drove off together before dawn to the Bois de Boulogne where duels always took place.
Her father was not killed – but badly wounded.
Although he was taken back to the hotel where they were staying and the doctors sent for at once, his wound became septic.
Finally after three days in agony, he died.
To his adoring wife it was the end of the world and she could only weep helplessly.
They had been very happy together and the endless difficulties over money had not seemed important as long as they both shared success and failure.
Her father had been buried in a graveyard in Paris, as it was too expensive to take his body back to England.
Yolanda had then asked her mother what they were going to do and the Countess made a helpless gesture with her hands.
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