BY THE age of 19, Carol House was totally disillusioned with love. She'd had three boyfriends on the trot who had treated her badly - and she'd had enough of men for a while.

It was only after her 21st birthday that Carol was tempted to try again - and, with the encouragement of her sister, decided to place an advert in the lonely hearts column of the Daily Echo.

It was then that fate intervened to bring her together with the man who was to become her husband.

"I placed an advert saying I was looking for someone aged 25 to 35 years old - because I like older men - and said I wanted an animal lover.

"I had 44 replies and I picked Adrian's because he wrote it as if it was his dog writing the reply," she said.

Only later did Carol discover how Adrian came to see that paper on the day her advert was published.

"Some people say it was fate and meant to be because a copy of the Daily Echo was put through Adrian's door by mistake.

"It was meant for somebody else and was delivered in error. Ordinarily he would not have got to see the paper at all," said Carol, now 44, who works as a dinner lady.

"I was so glad he saw my advert and decided to write back to me. I replied and he then asked if we could speak on the phone.

"We chatted for about an hour and he asked to see me the next day.

"We went for a drink and he asked me to go out with him on the Saturday.

"Seven months later we were engaged," she said.

From the first date, Carol knew that Adrian was her Mr Right. He was a real gentleman and a bit of a romantic, too.

"He was really quiet and I am just the opposite - I'm very talkative.

"I liked him right from the start and he really is quite romantic.

"When we got engaged he took me to a restaurant and got down on one knee to ask me to marry him," she said.

The couple married in 1983.

Eldest son, Russell, 19, was born a year later and, two years later, Kirk, now 17, came along.

Adrian, 50, an architectural technician, has retained his romantic nature after 20 years of marriage.

"On the spur of the moment he will take me out for dinner and if we have a tiff, he will buy me a present," says Carol.

"I only placed the ad as a bit of a laugh and I never thought I would meet the man I would eventually marry.

"In these days when not many marriages work out, we have been very lucky that it has worked out so well for us," said Carol.

If you met the love of your life under unusual circumstances and you would like to share your story, contact woman's editor Kate Thompson on 023 8042 4761 or by e-mail on kate.thompson@soton-echo.co.uk.