The cruel count (The Bantam Barbara Cartland library)

The Cruel Count by Barbara CartlandIt was certainly not the reception Lady Vesta Cressinton-Font had expected.As soon as she left her ship and set foot on the small Mediterranean island of Katona, the blue-eyed, exquisitely beautiful Vesta felt frightened and totally alone. Where, she wondered, were Prince Alexander's representatives? Surely His Royal Highness would not let his future bride arrive on Katona without a formal greeting. Really, it was quite unthinkable: traveling all the way from England to marry a man she had never met and then being rudely abandoned . . ."They tell me you have arrived alone."The words cut across Vesta's indignant reverie. Startled, she directed her gaze toward the man who spoke them. His stern, domineering manner, his penetrating glance quite alarmed her. And yet he was so darkly handsome . .."I am Count Miklos Czako," the stranger continued harshly. "I will take you to His Royal Highness."