Apocalypse of the heart

by Barbara Cartland

Alicia was listening to him as if she were hypnotized. Her eyes were held by his and it was impossible to look away. "I love you, I love you," the Prince said. "I knew if from the first moment I saw you, but I realized last night you were as out of reach as if you were the goddess Venus." "Why?" Alicia asked. The words merely touched her lips, hardly making a sound. "Because I am not a free man," the Prince replied. Now his voice was harsh and there was a pain in it which she could feel. "I have looked for you and dreamt of you," be went on. "Now you are here and it is difficult to believe you are real. But I have to send you away." "I do... not... understand," Alicia murmured. "Why should you?" he asked. "It is because I am not a free man. Because of they way I was born, my country must come first and my true feelings are insignificant beside one word, which is Duty."