Vienna Waltz (The Imperial Season Book 1) Read online

  Sonia glanced up at him, a smile just curving her luscious lips. “Jealous, Vanya?”

  “I don’t care to step on another man’s toes.”

  Sonia’s eyes flashed. “It didn’t bother you when my husband was alive.”

  She had a point, of course. He shifted uncomfortably. “Perhaps I’ve grown up.”

  “Good night, Vanya,” Sonia said deliberately and turned her back, heading for the staircase.

  Vanya straightened. “You could,” he suggested, “drop me at Boris’ lodgings.”

  Sonia stilled. After a moment, she looked back over her shoulder and regarded him. He’d always liked the way her smoky eyes seemed to smolder.

  “I could,” she agreed and walked on.

  Vanya smiled and followed her.

  *

  In the quiet of the morning after she’d given Johnnie the thief his instructions, Lizzie decided they should take the dog out for a long walk in the direction of the Vienna woods. Dog, thrilled to be outside of the confining walls of the house and garden, pulled on his leash so wildly that Lizzie was dragged all over the place. She only just managed to prevent him from throwing himself in front of a fast-bowling carriage.

  By the time they reached the Graben, they’d developed a system whereby everyone else held on to the person who controlled the leash, ready to dig in their heels at Dog’s next lunge. It was quite an amusing way to travel and it caused a good deal of hilarity among the children and the few passers-by they encountered. Fortunately, fashionable Vienna was still abed, since it never went to sleep before three o’clock in the morning and frequently later.

  However, Lizzie soon discovered that even this ridiculous method was not foolproof. As Henrietta controlled the lead, Dog walking nicely beside her, he made yet another lunge at a maid carrying several parcels – presumably containing food. Lizzie and the others applied the anchor as usual and Henrietta remained in place. However, the leash unraveled, allowing Dog to run rings around the poor maid and tangle her in the lead. When the maid dropped some of her parcels in fright, Lizzie knew they were in trouble.

  “Oh no,” she said, releasing Henrietta and lunging after the dog. But Michael was ahead of her, throwing himself on top of the animal.

  “So sorry,” Lizzie said, untangling the frightened maid. “He won’t hurt you but he’s greed personified.”

  Georgiana and Henrietta were already picking up the maid’s parcels. Dog, under Michael’s restraining body, wagged his tail. The maid, looking more outraged than frightened, released a torrent of French, interrupted by a rather delightful peel of laughter from a lady Lizzie hadn’t even noticed. She was about Lizzie’s own age and exquisitely dressed in a blue morning dress and pelisse with matching chip hat. More than that, even holding her sides in mirth, she possessed an enviable, unconscious elegance.

  “Thank you for rescuing my foolish girl,” she said breathlessly, coming up to Lizzie and quieting the maid with a flick of one casual finger. “And for the entertainment. That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen since I arrived in Vienna.”

  “You must thank Dog for that,” Lizzie said dryly. “We are merely his slaves. Well done, Michael,” she added. “You can release him now, but slowly.” She shortened the leash to prevent the dog jumping on the elegant lady as soon as he’d bounced to his feet and shaken himself. The lady let him sniff her gloved fingers and stroked his big head. Dog fawned.

  “He likes you.” Georgiana observed with unflattering surprise.

  “I like dogs.”

  “He’s more of a disgrace than a dog,” Lizzie sighed. “We never trained him properly. It didn’t matter in the country, but in the city he’s a menace.”

  “A beautiful menace,” the lady insisted. Not many people would have called Dog beautiful, so Lizzie was disposed to like her.

  “I don’t think he ate any of your parcels,” Lizzie said. “But if he’s damaged anything, you must let us pay.”

  “Ah no, I believe this young man’s quick actions saved the day. Or at least my breakfast.”

  Michael gave an embarrassed and slightly bedazzled grin.

  Even more in accord with the lady, Lizzie said, “Well, if you find teeth marks in any of it, send word to me! I’m Lizzie Gaunt and staying with my aunt and uncle in the Skodegasse. Number twenty-five.”

  The lady held out her hand. “Dorothée de Talleyrand-Perigord, and I’m staying with my uncle in the Johnnesgasse. I believe they call it the Kaunitz Palace.”

  “You’re French!” Michael exclaimed, fortunately detracting from Lizzie’s astonishment with his own shock. Lizzie’s was more to do with the recognition of the name Talleyrand.

  “Oh, the blood in my veins comes from all over Europe,” Dorothée said carelessly. “Besides, we’re all at peace now, are we not? Is your uncle with the British Embassy? Mine is with the French.”

  Lizzie, allowing Dog the space to lift his leg at the nearby lamppost, caught her new friend’s eye with a wry twitch of her lip. “Madame, your uncle is the French Embassy.”

  Dorothée laughed. “He will rejoice to hear you say so.”

  By mutual if tacit agreement, they’d begun to walk together, the maid keeping a strategic distance behind, well away from the dog. Before they parted ten minutes later, Lizzie knew that her new friend was married, hadn’t seen her husband for months, and didn’t appear to mind, and that she had two children whom she’d left with her mother so she could come to Vienna to play hostess for her uncle. But more than that, they’d laughed together and Lizzie rather thought that if things had been different, they might have been close friends.

  *

  Vanya hadn’t yet made it to Boris’ lodgings. Sonia had proved such a delightful distraction that he’d never got further than her apartment overlooking the Graben.

  Vanya seldom slept in daylight, so he rose early, leaving her sprawled face down and contented in the bed. He flung on his clothes in careless fashion and sat down in the chair by the window to pull on his boots.

  From here, he suspected, you could see the whole of Vienna pass by in a single day. Wherever you went, it was nearly always necessary to go via the Graben, this vast, open space stretching out before him. Even early as it was, several people were already abroad – scurrying tradesmen and merchants, a few servants and an elegant lady in blue…

  He blinked, his restless heart suddenly soaring with unexpected excitement, for he’d just caught sight of a cavalcade of three young girls, a boy, and a large, hairy dog of indeterminate parentage. The youthful beauty of the family, Henrietta, was holding the dog’s lead while everyone else held on to her.

  Vanya stood up and grinned, leaning one arm across the wooden window frame to watch them process across the Graben amidst a great deal of hilarity. The sight tugged at him, reminding him of more innocent days, of childhood fun with his own siblings and cousins, before war and the awfulness of fear and violence had soured him.

  Not that many people would have called him sour. But the sheer joie de vivre of the English family made him laugh and ache at the same time, especially when the dog assaulted the maid.

  His shoulders shook silently as the scene unfolded before him. He couldn’t tear himself away. The trouble was, he couldn’t help liking the whole eccentric family; and, of course, the lady in blue whom they adopted into the adventure of their everyday life was a stunning beauty by any standards. And yet for some reason, it was Lizzie his gaze clung to with ever-growing fascination. Something about her mix of innocence and boldness, fun and determination, surpassed even the unconscious loveliness of her face and figure which had first attracted him when she’d hustled him into her family’s carriage outside the theatre.

  Actually, he didn’t even know if she was beautiful. Not like the tsarina or Sonia or the lady in blue who looked oddly familiar, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore. Sheer vitality surpassed mere beauty. Or perhaps merely enhanced it, for he defied anyone to find a pair of finer dark eyes than Lizzie’s. Somehow, they
sparkled…

  Sober, of course, he understood that she was off-limits to him for any number of reasons, but that hadn’t stopped her popping into his mind at all sorts of inconvenient and inappropriate moments, not least of which had occurred last night while he was making unbridled love to Sonia.

  Something very like shame churned in his stomach as he glanced toward the bed. It seemed…wrong, to be here with Sonia, watching her. As if he could somehow sully the English girl.

  And yet, still he didn’t turn away. He watched her laugh and hang on to the dog and all her dependent siblings while she made unlikely friends with the fashionable lady in blue. And he enjoyed it. He enjoyed her, even from a distance, with something that threatened to run far deeper than mere physical desire.

  When the family eventually passed out of his sight, he sat down again and pulled on his other boot. Then, seizing his coat, he left his lover sound asleep in her tiny apartment and set off to walk to Boris’ lodgings.

  Boris was already awake and looking harassed as he sorted out a huge bundle of papers.

  “You’re up early,” Vanya observed.

  “Comes with the job,” Boris said grimly. He spared him a quick, half-amused glance. “I suppose you haven’t been to bed yet.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Vanya replied in the interests of strict truth. “Just came to give you this.” He placed a bundle of roubles on the table.

  “You won, then?”

  “Surprisingly, yes. But I won’t let it go to my head. I’m sure God was only smiling on that particular cause.”

  Boris raised one wry eyebrow. “Don’t drag the Almighty into your vices.” He set down his papers and fixed Vanya with his clear, direct gaze. “What are you up to, Vanya? What is this particular cause? Are you still talking about a necklace? Or does it have something to do with your feud with Blonsky? I heard he cut you last night.”

  Vanya shrugged. “The man’s a boor. But you needn’t worry. I’m not going to risk my life or anyone else’s.”

  “But I’ve heard such odd things of you recently that you really do have me worried.”

  Vanya curled his lip. “Afraid I’m finally going to the devil?”

  “Yes,” Boris said frankly. He leaned both hands on the table. “Look, I know everyone thinks it’s such an amusing start, but taking a woman’s necklace, ripping it from her throat…stealing, Vanya!”

  “Oh, for the love of—” Vanya cast his eyes to heaven. “It wasn’t her wretched necklace, it was mine! She stole if from me!”

  Boris frowned. “How did she do that? And what were you doing with a woman’s necklace anyway?”

  “It’s my mother’s. She forced it on me, said I should wear it under my uniform in battle. So I do. It may be my one act of filial obedience, but I’ve stuck to it and, if you must know, it’s a bit of a secret talisman.”

  Boris’s brow smoothed. “You imagine it keeps you safe.”

  Vanya shrugged impatiently. “Something has. So far. Besides, Louise Fischer is a nasty piece of work. I wouldn’t have my mother’s necklace on her cheating little throat.”

  “But you didn’t mind her cheating little throat in your bed?”

  “That’s different. Or at least it was. I thought we both understood the nature of the game. Then she took the necklace from my trunk while I slept, crossing one of my very few lines.”

  “Why? Isn’t she wealthy?”

  “Getting wealthier by the day,” Vanya said cynically. “She and her husband entertain the rich and gullible, drawing them in with Louise’s beauty. She flirts with them while he fleeces them. They have high-stake card games in their apartment twice a week and nobody wins in the end.”

  “Even you?”

  He shrugged. “I saw what they were up to. After losing, of course.”

  “So you took your revenge by bedding the woman and then humiliating her in public.”

  Vanya hated the hint of defiance he was sure must show in his eyes as he met his friend’s gaze. Boris could always do this to him, show him how badly he was behaving and make him ashamed. In the end, he’d always been grateful, because Boris had always been right. At least until now.

  “Something like that,” Vanya said steadily.

  Boris’ eyes bored into his and then unexpectedly they smiled, and his shoulders relaxed. “No it isn’t. You were drunk, weren’t you?”

  Vanya’s smile was twisted. “Inevitably.”

  “And you never denied the accusations because if you’d told the truth you’d have revealed the Fischer woman publicly as your mistress. Or your whore. After everything, you were protecting her reputation.”

  “How saintly am I?” Vanya said flippantly, throwing himself into the nearest chair.

  Boris hurled a cushion at him. “Not very. You just have an odd saving grace.”

  Vanya caught the cushion and put it behind his head so that he could lean back and pretend to close his eyes. “Well, one more scandal makes no difference to me. And who am I to quibble at the enterprising Fischers making a few kopeks from the wealthy fools who’ve invaded their city?”

  Boris shook his head. “And I suppose you’re going to be giving the rest of that money—” He flapped one hand towards the pile of roubles on the table. “…to charity?”

  Vanya laughed. “Almost. You might say I’m righting a wrong with it. Or just enjoying the fun.”

  Chapter Four

  The day of the Emperor’s ball dawned fair and sunny. Lizzie found herself much in demand, running errands and making last minute adjustments to the gowns of her aunt and cousin.

  “I wish you were coming, too,” Minerva said once, as their eyes met in the glass. “It would be so much more fun, then. On my own, I feel like a piece of meat left in the butcher’s window too long.”

  Lizzie didn’t really blame her. Like all debutantes, Minerva was being displayed for sale to the most eligible husband. But Lizzie only smiled and squeezed her cousin’s hand. “Trust me, you look nothing like a piece of meat. And if you were such a thing, you’d be the one snapped up as soon as the shop opened for business.”

  Minerva laughed but caught at her hand. “Seriously, Lizzie, why don’t you come?”

  “I have nothing to wear,” Lizzie said lightly. “And I didn’t come to Vienna with you to go to balls but to help if I could.” Her conscience twinged a little at that.

  Although she wasn’t stealing, the act of taking the necklace was bound to frighten her aunt and cause considerable anxiety. Until now, she had been able to thrust such awareness aside with the resolve to comfort her aunt after it had happened. But suddenly, the whole great plan seemed just a little mean.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t do it,” she said worriedly to her siblings when she found them all with the dog in the garden.

  “Why ever not?” Georgiana demanded.

  “It’s bound to scare poor Aunt Lucy into a fit. Maybe Johnnie was right and he should just steal it from the house. Let Ivan the Terrible have what suspicions he likes, he’ll never prove anything.”

  “Even when we suddenly have enough money to set up our own home?” Georgiana asked.

  “Well, that’s going to be an issue anyway,” Lizzie said ruefully. “Not so much to the world, who might imagine Papa left us a little un-entailed property. But to my aunt and uncle who must know there was no such thing.”

  “I thought you had a plan for that,” Michael said.

  “Well, I thought we could forge a letter from Ivan the Terrible appearing to make us an allowance out of the goodness of his heart, but you know that would only work if my uncle never actually speaks to him.”

  Georgiana and Michael both gazed at her with a mixture of anxiety and accusation. Henrietta, much more evenly tempered, looked from one to the other and then to Lizzie.

  “I don’t think you can call it off now,” Michael said at last. “You won’t see Johnnie until it’s done.”

  “I will, since I have to point out my aunt…Why do I feel like Judas Iscariot
? Anyhow, there may or may not be a chance to speak to him, but I definitely have to go.”

  “What’s brought on such doubts?” Henrietta asked.

  Lizzie sighed. “I don’t know. The approach of the reality probably. And then I was talking to Minerva who wished I was going with her to the ball. I felt like a…a cad.”

  “Well, she has a point,” Henrietta said. “Why don’t you ever go to the balls and parties with them? You could make a splendid match here, Lizzie.”

  “That’s the problem,” Georgiana said, nodding wisely. “Lizzie would cast Minerva in the shade and catch all the best suitors.”

  Lizzie laughed with genuine, if touched amusement. “Hardly. I’m twenty-three years old and quite on the shelf. Even when I was seventeen, I was no beauty.”

  “Yes you were,” Henrietta said loyally. “You still are, if only you could see it.”

  “Why didn’t you have a London season like everyone else?” Michael asked.

  Lizzie shrugged. “I don’t know. The time passed. I never actually wanted one. Papa was ill off and on. It made more sense to everyone if I just stayed at Launceton. To be honest, I was grateful no one pushed me into it because you know I could never behave well for an entire evening, never mind several weeks. Our neighbors are used to my eccentricities, but London society would not be so forgiving.”

  Her gaze settled on Henrietta, whose dreams had always been of romance, husbands, babies, and decorating houses. “However, it would be a crime if you never had a London season, Henri. So one way or another, we need the necklace.”

  A knocking on the window drew her attention back to the house. Benson, Aunt Lucy’s maid, was beckoning her inside. Lizzie waved and went dutifully back to help with the preparations.

  *

  Walking to the Hofburg presented no difficulty to Lizzie. In fact, the proximity of the palace was the main reason she was so easily able to talk the children out of accompanying her with the dog.

  “I would love to see all the emperors and empresses, kings and queens as they arrive,” Henrietta said hopefully.