Golden Lie

The tenth Earl of Narbrooke is a miser.He is obsessed with moneyand is prepared to starve himself as well as his household and willnot give a penny to his family even though he is the Head of it.He has locked himself away in his vast mansion and neglects the estateuntil it becomes a disgrace.Colonel Euan Campbell, who had beenwounded in the War with Napoleon, is very hard-up and accepts theposition of managing the Earl\'s horses. He is given a cottage for his wife and his daughter, Devona, aged thirteen.The Colonel iskilled by a wild horse that the Earl insists on buying because it wascheap and, as they are destitute, Mrs. Campbell and Devonia are takeninto the big house so that they can help the servants although theyare not paid.Mrs. Campbell dies of pneumonia in the unheated house while Devona stays on.Then one morning the miserly Earl is founddead from a stroke and Devona sends a message to the next Earl wholives in London.Before he arrives, however, she finds the Earl\'swill in which every penny he possesses is to be buried withhim.Because she is terrified that the new Earl will be like hisbrother, she burns the will, thinking that if the money goes to thefamily they will help her.When the new Earl does arrive, he is the miser\'s nephew and to Devona\'s surprise he is young, tall andhandsome and when he asks the beautiful Devona who she is, because she is so scared, she says that she is the daughter of his uncle.Howafter the funeral the new Earl visits the Bank and finds that hisuncle has left a huge fortune of one million pounds.How Devona isstunned to learn that as she is the next of kin, the money goes toher.How she comes to an arrangement with the new Earl and howbecause it leaks out that she is the heiress she is terrorised by afortune-hunter, but eventually finds love is all told in this unusualstory by BARBARA CARTLAND.