The Royal Pledge

Original title: The Captive Heart

Sabina had come to Monte Carlo with a sense of excitement and anticipation. How different it all was from the country parsonage she had left in England. It was exciting to be traveling alone, though a little frightening to have to ask the help of a band of gypsies on the road.

When Michel, the man she had seen at the gypsy camp, came back into her life again and again, Sabina began to forget why she was in Monte Carlo -- to meet her future mother-in-law and to spend her time with her fiancé, the rich, aristocratic -- and dull -- Lord Thetford. Unable to think of anyone but Michel, Sabina took the most reckless and dramatic step that a young lady of her station and prospects could possibly take. And then it seemed it was all for nothing -- he had disappeared!