101. The Enchanted Waltz

Prince Metternich of Austria is growing weary of the political machinations of the European nations arguing over the spoils of Napoleon’s Empire, especially those of the duplicitous Czar of all the Russias, Alexander I. They are all gathered for the Congress of Vienna in 1815 Presented with an exquisitely beautiful young girl with eyes as piercingly blue as his own Prince Metternich is powerfully reminded of a siren he once loved in his past and accepts Wanda as his Ward. But he has an ulterior motive – he persuades the naïve Wanda to go undercover in the Court of the Czar to glean information on his real intentions for Europe. Meanwhile the Czar has his own suspicions of Metternich and arranges for his English friend Richard Melton to take his place, as they have similar physical characteristics. Richard Melton is an exile from his home in England because he has been accused of duelling and, although he is innocent, no one believes him. So begins a tortuous tangle of deceit, secrets and subterfuge in which Wanda quickly loses her heart to the man she takes to be the Czar. But just as the truth eventually comes to light and love for Wanda stirs Richard Melton’s heart, his beloved is betrayed and is carried away forcibly in a sleigh bound for the clutches of the wicked Count Araktcheef in Russia – a fate Richard cannot bear to contemplate –