Read Online The Gates of Paradise by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page A

really had no need for other people.
    The beauty of the flowers and the attractive way the garden was designed was a delight she would love to show her father.
    There were walls covered with bright clematis and a fountain playing in the middle of the lawn.
    And a small cascade flowed through the trees rising behind the Palace and continued through the garden before disappearing from sight.
    The comfortable seat, which had been arranged for her, was in the shade of trees still in blossom.
    Narina found that when she sat down, she could not be seen from the windows of the Palace.
    Indeed she was now sitting in an enchanted world of beauty that could only have sprung from the imagination of a lover of flowers.
    Because it was so beautiful and there was the soft tinkle of the cascade, Narina did not at once open her book.
    She sat enraptured, looking around her.
    Hearing the birds in the trees, the hum of the bees and seeing the butterflies moving in and out of the lilies.
    It was all so lovely she felt it could not be real.
    Equally she could not help but wish that her father or someone special could enjoy all this beauty with her.
    â€˜If Louise was here,’ she mused to herself, ‘we would have so much to say.  And if Papa was here, I know that he would be able to tell me a thousand things about all these flowers, the trees and even the sky.’
    Then she laughed at herself.
    She was finding fault and should not dare to do that in a place so wonderful it must be a part of Paradise.
    â€˜It is all so glorious. How could there possibly be anything ugly or unpleasant in a place with such beauty?’
    She knew from the manner in which Louise and her husband had stolen so surreptitiously away from the Palace that danger threatened Alexanderburg.
    It was real and not part of anyone’s imagination.
    â€œThis incredible beauty must never be spoilt,” she found herself exclaiming aloud.
    Then resolutely she opened the book her father had given her.
    As she might have guessed, it was exactly the sort of book she would enjoy in such a place.
    It told her stories and legends of the Balkans and of Saints and past heroes who had left their imprint upon the people and the country.
    â€˜It is so like my Papa to guess what I would want to read at this particular moment,’ pondered Narina.
    Yet it was difficult to read when everything around her was so lovely to look at.
    She was afraid that, if she took her eyes off it, the garden might disappear.
    Two white doves appeared suddenly in the sky.
    Then they both fluttered down on the lawn near the fountain, which in itself, she felt, could tell a story if only it could speak.
    The carved stone bowl was obviously very old and she had noticed water lilies as she passed. A flash of gold told her there were also goldfish.
    The water flung up by the fountain into the sky was like a shimmering rainbow until it cascaded downwards in an embracing circle.
    It was so beautiful and unusual that Narina was sure there must be a story attached to the fountain in the book her father had given her.
    Once again she could not suppress the feeling that she would really like to share her thoughts and ideas with someone else.
    â€˜Am I just asking too much when I have you,’ she murmured looking down at the lilies beside her and then at the trees rising high on the other side of the garden.
    Resolutely she opened her book again.
    Even as she did so, she noticed a number of birds were suddenly flying out of the trees above her and across the garden.
    She wondered what had disturbed them.
    She thought it was perhaps some large animal since no human being could possibly be there.
    Then she was suddenly aware of heavy footsteps.
    Someone was running through the trees!
    Even as she stared incredulously, a man appeared in front of her.
    One glance at him made her draw in her breath.
    A second glance made her rise to her feet.
    He was a tall man with broad shoulders and there was blood