Read Online Wanderlust by Danielle Steel - Free Book Online Page A

eyebrows shot up in interest. She had the most expressive face and seemed hardly older than Audrey.
    Are you? Were you born there? She loved to ask questions, and her husband was quick to intervene, chiding her laughingly.
    Will you stop interrogating people, Vi. Really you must stop that! But Americans had been extremely tolerant of her, in fact very few seemed to object, if any, and they were quite happy to answer all of her questions.
    I don't mind, Audrey was quick to interject and Lady Violet apologized.
    I'm so sorry. James is right. I have a frightful habit of asking too many questions. In England, everyone thinks me terribly rude. Americans seem to be better sports about it. She smiled ingenuously and Audrey laughed.
    I don't mind. Actually, I was born in Hawaii and moved to San Francisco when I was eleven, my parents were from there originally.
    How very interesting. She sounded genuinely fascinated and Audrey laughed, realizing that she hadn't introduced herself to them yet. She held out a hand, and they completed the formal introduction and then James invited her to join them for champagne. He was an incredibly handsome man with shiny black hair, broad shoulders, and impeccable, aristocratic hands. Audrey had to fight herself not to stare at him, but he was so good-looking that one found oneself mesmerized by him as he talked, and to watch them together was like watching a movie. They embodied all that was glamour. They had it all, they were beautiful people in beautiful clothes, with witty things to say, incredible jewels, and an air of ease about them that anybody would have envied.
    Do you come to Europe often? It was Violet, asking questions again, but this time James didn't try to stop her.
    I've only been once, Audrey confessed. When I was eighteen. I went with my grandfather. We went to London and Paris, and a week at some spa on the Lake of Geneva. And then we went home to San Francisco.
    Evian probably. Terribly dull, isn't it? Violet and Audrey both laughed, James sat back watching his wife. He was obviously crazy about her, and as Audrey watched them she felt sorry for her sister. That was what marriage should have been like, two people who care about each other, who enjoy the same things, not strangers who only cared about how they looked to others. She would rather remain single for her entire life or wait until she found a man just like this one. And she found that she didn't envy Violet at all. She enjoyed watching the two of them together, as Violet went on chatting. My grandmother used to have this funny old house in Bath. She used to go there for the 'waters, and every year they would send me with her. I cannot begin to tell you how much I hated it ' except, she looked up at James with a broad smile, there was one summer that wasn't quite as awful.
    I broke my leg shooting in Scotland, and went to stay with my great aunt, much against my will and better judgment, but ' there were a few benefits. Little Lady Vi here was one of them ' . His voice trailed off enticingly and she took the bait good-humoredly.
    You mean there were others?
    ' Oh, a pretty little thing at the bakery, as I recall, and ' .
    James, how could you! He was teasing her and she loved it and Audrey spent a delightful evening with them, laughing and teasing and talking about California, and the places she wanted to see in Europe.
    How long are you planning to stay, Audrey? James asked her pleasantly as he poured the last of their second bottle of champagne into their glasses.
    More or less until the end of the summer. I've promised my grandfather I would get home then. You see, I ' it's rather complicated, I'm afraid. I live with him, and he's eighty-one years old.
    Must be rather dreary for you, my dear ' . James sounded solicitous but she was quick to shake her head, out of love and loyalty, and she had always loved living with him. It was just that now, for a little while, she needed to do something different.
    He's a wonderful