BooksBarbecue
Back The Empress Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1853
  4. PART I
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. 1854
  42. PART II
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. FORTY
  47. FORTY-ONE
  48. FORTY-TWO
  49. FORTY-THREE
  50. FORTY-FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. FIFTY
  57. FIFTY-ONE
  58. FIFTY-TWO
  59. FIFTY-THREE
  60. FIFTY-FOUR
  61. FIFTY-FIVE
  62. FIFTY-SIX
  63. FIFTY-SEVEN
  64. FIFTY-EIGHT
  65. FIFTY-NINE
  66. SIXTY
  67. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  68. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“I’m not certain about most things. I just refuse to let anyone make me into something I’m not. And if I don’t speak my mind, people will make me into whatever they want me to be.”

“So, you’re saying damn the consequences because no one else gets to define who you are?”

Elisabeth laughed. Hearing it said so simply made her heart light. It was the first time in so long she’d heard herself echoed back with such clarity. The first time that someone had really seen Elisabeth in months. Her heart thrilled at it.

“You’ve already made a good start,” she pointed out. “You said damn.”

He laughed again, and that thrilled her too.

TWENTY-FIVE

image

IF ONLY IT WERE ELISABETH’S PORTRAIT SITTING IN Franz’s room instead of Helene’s. How easy it would be if duty and longing were on the same path. How much simpler his life would be if there weren’t a war in his heart as well as at his borders.

He’d stumbled upon her by accident again, and his heart couldn’t stop feeling that accident and fate weren’t so far apart. Would it be so bad if he chose her instead of Helene? If he ruined Mother’s plans? The only consequences he could think of for letting his heart have this one thing it truly wanted were—

Joy.

Laughter.

It had been so long since someone had reminded him so fully of who he was, how he wasn’t just emperor but also Franz. The same Franz who used to read poetry by candlelight, staying up late thinking about all the ways he could change his world. Before worry and danger and an endless list of duties and an attempt on his life had crowded all that out. Before he’d realized the depth of consequences to his own foolishness, how much stepping off the path of obligation cost.

Who could he be now if he gave in and let his heart love Elisabeth? Who would he be if he didn’t?

As he strolled toward the villa’s back entrance, Maxi appeared at his elbow, cigarette in hand. “Nighttime stroll in the garden, Brother? That’s not like you.”

Irritation bunched in Franz’s shoulders. It was actually just like him, but Maxi wouldn’t know. Maxi had barely been around in the last year as the pressures of Habsburg piled up and Franz sought out quiet corners of manicured gardens as a solace.

Franz pressed his lips together. He was tempted to ask what Maxi was doing out here, but the answer was probably something illicit. And if Franz didn’t give in to the temptation to ask, maybe Maxi would go away.