A Foreign Affair Read Online Free

equal amount of effort to guard his own words and expressions so as to reveal nothing to those who watched him with the same intensity as he watched them.
    It was all very exhausting, and he had soon found himself in desperate need of distraction and diversion. Then his eye bad fallen on the Princess von Hohenbachern one evening at a ball in the Hofburg. It was natural that he should notice her, for she was an outstandingly beautiful woman, even among a host of beautiful women, but beyond that, there was an air of lightheartedness and gaiety that captured his attention as she waltzed around the palace’s ballroom in the arms of one partner after another. She was enjoying herself, truly enjoying herself, purely and simply enjoying herself and nothing more. Her eyes never sought out those of some delegate or another at the other side of the room as so many other women’s did. She never seemed to pause and reflect on what had been said. Her partners were not noticeably attached to any particular delegation; sometimes they were French, sometimes Austrian, or German, or Russian or English. In fact, the only distinguishing characteristic among them was that they all danced extremely well and appeared to concentrate all their attention solely upon her.
    After observing her closely for some time, Brett had begun to hope that the Princess von Hohenbachem was interested in nothing more than the pleasures to be found in the delightful give and take between an attractive man and an attractive woman who had the wit and sophistication to appreciate this repartee to the fullest. It was only when he had finally assured himself of this that he had asked Julie Zichy to introduce them, and he had been pleased to discover that the princess was as charming and delightful as he had hoped.
    Brett had left the Hofburg, as dawn was breaking, in a very optimistic frame of mind, indeed. Not only had he discovered someone exquisitely beautiful who could enter into a flirtation in the spirit in which it was meant and who appeared to have no political connections or ambitions, but astoundingly enough, she had turned out to be a fellow countrywoman as well.
    Having established all this, he now hastened to seek her out again at the earliest opportunity, and he smiled down at her with a good deal of satisfaction. “Then you are a most unusual lady indeed, for everyone in Vienna, even the lowliest chambermaid, appears to be utterly obsessed with politics.”
    The princess wrinkled her dainty nose. “People talk of nothing else; I am quite ennuyée with it all. Surely now that Napoleon has been safely dispatched, we can get back to enjoying ourselves and forget the unpleasant events of the last decade. Do you not think so, my lord?”
    Brett smiled into the enormous cornflower-blue eyes. “I certainly hope so.” His gaze traveled down to the parted lips, lingered for one delicious moment, then slid down the long slender column of her neck to the elegant white shoulders and back to the eyes, leaving no doubt in his partner’s mind that he, for one, was quite ready to take her suggestion. “As someone who helped to dispatch the man, I assure you, I am more than ready to enjoy the fruits of my labor.”
    “Ah, then we must make sure that you have adequate companionship. Nothing is very enjoyable if one is alone.”
    “Very true. And everything is more enjoyable when it is shared with a beautiful and charming woman.”
    A shiver of anticipation ran down the princess’ spine. Ah, but the man was handsome with those high cheekbones, strong nose, and intensely blue eyes, eyes made to appear even more blue by the deeply tanned face. The way he looked at a woman made her feel utterly irresistible, made her feel as though he would do anything to win her. It had been a long time, a very long time, since the princess had flirted with such a man, and it made her feel ten years younger. Vienna was turning out to be better than she had dared hope. “A beautiful