Free The Prince Who Loved Me (The Oxenburg Princes) by Karen Hawkins

diamonds of the first water?”
    “I avoid them like the plague. All they’ll do is use me as a partner for an empty dance, and when the dance is over, ask me to introduce them to my friend, the prince.”
    Alexsey cocked an eyebrow. “That has happened?”
    “Five times this evening alone. And if you weren’t here, they’d ask for an introduction to Loudoun or Portman. They’re both earls and spend more per month on their hunting horses than I have for all of my expenses for the entire year.”
    “Not all beautiful women are as shallow as you think.”
    Strath sent him an amused glance. “So they would have you think; I am allowed to view them in their more natural state. Most, if not all, beautiful women are spoiled, and think they deserve the best life has to offer without making any effort to win it. Give me a woman who is grateful for a smile, someone like—” He glanced about the room. “There, by the door. I’m not talking about the goddess in blue; that’s her sister, who is quite vain—you can see it in the way she holds her head. I’m talking about the one in pink who—”
    “Wait!” Alexsey started. “That is her!”
    Strath stared. “But . . . that’s not a housemaid at all. That’s Miss Bronwyn Murdoch, a member of the local gentry.”
    “ Nye za shta! ” He scowled. That would make a flirtation far more difficult. Still, it was very good he’d finally found her. “Bronwyn . ” He rolled the name over his tongue.“That suits her.” He put his glass on a nearby table. “Come. We must go to her.”
    “But Miss MacGregor is—” Strath sighed. “Never mind. I’ll find her afterward. First, I must meet this woman. I— Hold, Alexsey. Wait for me, damn you.”
    Alexsey didn’t slow down, his gaze locked on Roza.
    Strath caught up and followed him through the crowded floor. “I can introduce you; I met the Murdochs in the receiving line.”
    “They are a well-to-do family?”
    “Not financially, but very much so by birth. Mr. Murdoch’s a rather eccentric inventor. My uncle implied that Miss Murdoch helps her father with his patents.”
    Thus the ink-stained fingers and the letter wadded in the toe of the slipper. “And the others?”
    “Her stepmother and stepsisters. The stepmother is Lady Malvinea, the daughter of an earl. That’s all I really know of the family. I wish I’d listened more closely when my uncle was telling me about them; you know what a gossip he is.”
    It was a pity his Roza was a woman of good family, for it meant she was as trussed up by society as he. Perhaps more. As a prince, his behaviors were indulged. Society, never fair in its treatment of the gentler sex, wouldn’t be so generous regarding the actions of a female of good birth, and even less so regarding those of a female of good birth but no income. That lack of income explained her worn clothing, too. We will have to be very careful, Roza.
    As he drew closer, he saw that the gown she wore now, while of better quality than the one she’d worn in the woods, was unfashionable and of a brownish pink color that did little to complement her warm skin and brown hair. “She does not dress as well as her sisters.”
    Strath shrugged. “Miss Murdoch is on the shelf and is here tonight as chaperone.”
    “What does this mean—on the shelf?”
    “She must be—oh, I don’t know, twenty-five or so.” Strath nodded to a man who waved as they passed in the crowd. “She has passed the marriageable stage of life.”
    Which made her even more perfect for a passionate affair. Things were looking up. A woman who was no longer considered of marriageable age would be much freer of the strictures of polite society, and less under the watchful eye of a concerned parent than a maiden of tender age. Perhaps her genteel birth will not be such a burden, after all.
    Strath continued, “She seemed quite shy when we were introduced. She only said two words, and from what I could see, that’s all she’s said