Free A Foreign Affair by Evelyn Richardson Page B

Fraulein, worn out by years of teaching, abdicated more and more of her responsibility to her former student, and Helena, now studying under the scholarly Abbe Ferrand, took over their education. She truly enjoyed the task and seemed to have an uncanny ability for making lessons, whether they were in history, geography, or even mathematics, come alive for the girls-Soon she was able to command their attention and keep them seated at their desks in a way the Fraulein never had.
    This arrangement was not only helpful to the governess, but it was extremely rewarding to a young girl who had never felt anything but superfluous to the existence of the adults around her until she bad arrived at Hohenbachern. At the schloss, life was different from her former life in England. The prince was a devoted father who doted on his girls when he was not off with his regiment, and since all of the social life in the tiny principality revolved around its prince, all the entertaining was confined to the schloss and its environs, which meant that Helena actually saw more of her mother than she had in all the years they had lived in England.
    The Prince von Hohenbachern had married Lady Devereux to give his tiny daughters a mother, but it was her daughter who actually took on the responsibility for their upbringing, and she lavished them with all the love and attention she had longed for but never received. In return they adored her. Their protests, when she had left for Vienna, had been loud and long, but she had promised to write them and encouraged them to write her. Still, letters were no substitute for being there.
    A lump rose in Helena’s throat as she pictured them, their blond curls flying as they rode alongside their carriage as far as the village and then waved good-bye as it turned on to the main road to Munich.
    “There you are. I have been looking for you this age, though I suppose I should have known I would find you here. What do you think of this new bonnet? It is quite in the French style, and I do think the ostrich feathers add a degree of elegance. Do you not agree? TheCountess Edmond de Talleyrand-Perigord was wearing one like it at the fete last week, and I vowed I would not rest until I could have one made up for me.” The Princess von Hohenbachern paused in front of a convenient-looking glass to admire the charming picture she made and then sank gracefully into the bergère chair her daughter had just vacated. “I shall be all the rage in the Prater this afternoon, for I do think I appear to more advantage in it than the countess. Her complexion is too dark and her nose too long to do it justice.”
    “It is vastly becoming, Mama.” And indeed, the bonnet was a perfect frame for the princess’ blond beauty. “But am a poor judge of such things, you know, for I have not the least notion of what is a la mode or what has become hopelessly passé.”
    “It is not so much a question of whether or not something is the latest kick of fashion as it is whether or not it shows one’s particular characteristics to their best advantage. As I say, I saw the bonnet on the countess and admired the design, but I selected it because it is perfect for me, and, I guarantee that when I wear it, it will become the kick of fashion, while on her, it just looked like a bonnet.” The princess rose and walked over to the looking glass again, turning her head from side to side to assure herself that it was equally becoming from all angles. “I daresay that it win turn quite a few heads this afternoon.”
    “Are you just going for a drive, or...” Helena hated herself for asking the question. What did it matter to her if a certain English officer was expected to call that afternoon? But she could not stop herself from asking.
    “Do you never pay attention to such things?” Helena’s mother shook her head, a look of mingled exasperation and resignation wrinkling her smooth white brow. “Balls and routs may be too frivolous to attach