The last waltz

Alex Faversham, growing up in the early years of the twentieth century, longs to break away from her stifling background. A visit from her Aunt Alicia, who lives in Vienna, fires her determination to escape, and she becomes a companion to a woman travelling to Italy. After Italy, Alex goes on alone to Vienna where she finds romance with Karl von Winckler, a hussar in the Emperor's guard, but their love cannot last. Alex leaves for St Petersburg with her aunt, returning to Vienna on the eve of war. Not until peace has come does she at last revisit England...