A Sword to the Heart

A Sword to the Heart is #13 in the Bantam series and was published in December of 1974. This is one of the first Barbara Cartland books I bought with my hard-earned babysitting money in 1976! My copy still looks relatively new after all of these years, too!

Francis Marshall did similar covers for this book with the Corgi (UK) edition set in a jewel room of an old castle. I like the Bantam edition better since it's more colorful and not washed out, but that could be the condition of my copy.
Note his illustration of the jewels scattered among the table and the trunk and armoire in the background. Who wouldn't want to play with the jewelry?! The plot of this book is Natalia's marriage to Lord Colwall and how she is under the mistaken impression that he's marrying her for love. Instead, he wants an heir and the story is how 2 people who don't really know each other and have different expectations find romance. This book was set in 1830 and Natalia's full day dress with sash are stylish. This is between the narrow skirt regency fashions and the full Victoria dress.