Konrad and Alexandra (pdf) - Rolf Gross

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herself to sleep. With the last mail from Germany arrived a letter from Claudia. She was jubilant. Niko had accepted the faculty position in Göttingen. He would be working closely with Professor Courant, a dynamic personality in applied mathematics. The professorship came with an offer of German citizenship, an important benefit for Niko in these uncertain times. She had accepted an assistant position in the faculty of medicine at the university to specialize in brain neurology. They would move to Göttingen in early September. …Alexandra, can you believe it, I am pregnant! With the prospect of a child, Niko has become a different man. I have never been so close to him nor felt so fortunate. Niko hovers over me with a never-before-shown love. When will I see you again, my dearest friend? Everything is well now. I meditate every morning on my happiness. Farewell, both of you. Love from your sister in spirit and in law. Claudia. 346
The War Years St. Petersburg 1914 – 1917 All through early August patriotic spirits ran high. The Russian army had crossed the German border near Eydtkuhnen and was pushing into East Prussia. Alexandra thought of the Bredows. Like Helena’s parents, who had fled their estate eastwards, the Bredows would flee west. What would become of their house and fields? By mid August a great battle near Soldau-Tannenberg in East Prussia was in progress. The churches were crowded with worshippers. Alexandra had a terrifying recurrence of her vision of a year ago. The general euphoria suddenly collapsed, when the rumors of a terrible defeat turned into certainty. Two weeks after the battle, the high command reluctantly admitted the loss of one-hundred-thousand men, dead, missing, or taken prisoners by the Germans, and fiftythousand wounded. By the fall of 1914 the Russian armies had lost another hundred-thousand men in the retreat from East Prussia. The Germans were advancing on the Baltics, the Austrians in the south. Refugees and wounded poured into St. Petersburg. All medical practitioners in town were pressed into emergency service. Alexandra and Helena were fortunate, they were allowed to work side by side in the hospital where they had trained. They worked in shifts. It was good to be close to each other, their job was gruesome. Many of the young men brought from the front were in dreadful condition, many died under their hands. But this horrible work kept Alexandra from brooding. Every day demanded all of her. After a ten-hour shift she returned home exhausted. To detract from the East Prussian defeat the Emperor declared a Holy War to recapture Constantinople from the Turkish Infidels. Alexandra’s worries about her parents grew, but Tiflis remained peaceful. The Ottoman Empire was so shaky that Russian troops soon occupied large parts of Eastern Anatolia. At the same time the city government decided to change the "German" name St. Petersburg, which Peter the Great had given his foundation, to Petrograd. In April, Otto was working on his homework, an enormous explosion blew out all windows in their apartment. Elizabeth found Otto lying dazed and covered with glass on the living room floor. He was unharmed. Wild speculations of a German bombardment ran through the city. Reality was worse than that, an explosion in a large munitions factory in Petrograd had destroyed the weapons reserves of the army. By summer 1915 only every third Russian soldier had a weapon and had to ration his ammunition. As the extent of the military defeat in East Prussia became evident, the Emperor demoted the arrogant chief of staff of the Western Army, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, and sent him as Viceroy to Tiflis. Vorontsev was dismissed. Jordania carefully watched this change of guard and for the first time discussed an armed uprising against Russia with the inner circle 347
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Konrad and Alexandra The Chronicle
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24.The Dahl's House, Katharina, 190
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One piece of luggage after another
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I sank into a restless sleep and th
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jokes. Fifteen years ago Leist had
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goats, and driven from behind by sh
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two of us." Tiflis 1898 Tiflis and
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comprehension that fortune had sent
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Wine Merchants, Tiflis Bazaar, 1890
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I can never completely shake off vi
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couches. They were given big towels
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Alexandra Dadiani Tiflis 1898 She w
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Dadiani laughed so heartily that Ko
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eally introverted. We love tragedy,
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"Konrad, come and join us, it must
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Chekhov's "Chaika" and Henri the Go
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He handed her the necklace. She str
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curtain. Konrad, raised on the clea
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Henry nodded. "I know what you mean
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"I know you feel overawed by the ta
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Alexandra's Necklace Konrad’s emo
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Georgia on Horseback 1898 Konrad’
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Konrad laughed. "That was exactly w
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came from the desert, a jackal or a
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Around the white cathedral that tow
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The Engagement Konrad and Alexandra
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find the love she needed. He had pu
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The half hour ride took them up a v
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After the dance ended, a deep silen
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Ilia Chavchavadze, Tiflis, 1900 (Wi
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Irakli raised his glass. "Do bury t
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New Year 1899 The jeunesse d’oré
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"May I look at your watch? What is
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possibility of a physical abduction
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well in Telavi, return tomorrow. A
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Alexandra described the sequence of
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It was Easter night. On his last vi
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hoarsely, "Mein Gott, you are right
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sharply. Konrad smiled. "We left he
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that no publisher would touch the m
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The Last Feudal Wedding in Kakheti
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Alexandra sees in me. A remarkably
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Alexandra had phonetically translit
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"Listen my love, try to lie absolut
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over dark waters to an undisclosed
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The Wolfsons Fiesole and Florence 1
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anecdote: my brother studied theolo
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vanishing lines. They are not shown
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Alexandra tried to compare both pai
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Sisakians, she found, disconcerted,
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existed no viable political alterna
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Russian aristocrats are blind or si
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The ball became a great, albeit con
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He was not interested in controllin
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would have fainted." Niko laughed.
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women as you are now. His skill suc
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erated him. Had he not himself said
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Otto's Birth 1900 At four in the mo
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at the height of the contraction sh
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today you look even more gorgeous."
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Alexandra had waited for him and fi
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The Gulf of Finnland near Lisi Nos
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Count Nikolai Prshevalsky had broug
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The entire ground floor had been op
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She finally learned to distinguish
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pouring out of the palais, the elec
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Indian Masters were fabricated by h
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Berlin 1904 Alexandra had received
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pretty women. They are hanging on S
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He pointed at a monument everybody
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Rheinsberg 1904 They traveled by tr
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under Friedrich’s eyes. Friedrich
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off her horse, and embraced her. Ar
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lethargy and got me into this adven
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"Look, I will give you a recipe for
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The Dahl's House Katharina Weisshub
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know in medicine of when these days
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"I urgently need some new clothes a
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They went to the late show in an ol
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irresponsibly than ever. Instead of
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those of Soranus and the plants Ale
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available to the women of the twent
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asked Alexandra with her cool dark
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She glanced furtively at Katharina.
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"You guessed right," she said in Ge
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He switched back to German. "Can on
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"It describes Wagner arriving at th
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the cello, a red rectangle driven b
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Had Herr Schönberg or Herr Webern
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scores? She had not heard either ye
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Fashing Munich 1905 Once a year Dio
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cuirass. The audience watched breat
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They sank into each other’s arms.
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They woke up late next morning. Kon
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Walking on Ice After the cold and f
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in the shadows, and green edges aro
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Germany an alternative. He surely d
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Professor Dahl began to laugh. "I s
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Friedrich and Katharina get married
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Alexandra was the first to notice t
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arena. Aïda in the immense Roman o
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Fiesole 1905 "Walter, we have not s
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Last time Walter had taken her to t
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Alexandra's Time "Friedrich," said
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points I felt the eyes of the Gods
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Meeting Clara Westhoff München and
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"I rented the large dining hall and
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Despite the scarf, Alexandra could
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adoration of her bizarre beauty. Ev
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and do not flush in breathless wave
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Snowbound in Eydtkuhnen 1905 "Konra
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the platform. Someone unrolled a re
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The von Bredow's Snow Casle From be
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They tiptoed downstairs and along t
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Return to St. Petersburg 1905 Konra
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power and calls for the establishme
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taken Rilke’s abandoned wife alon
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And her narrow hand in rings. "Ever
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They had, one day, swum out to a lo
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impression on us, you have to conce
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his best to bring some kind of stab
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Uncle Muravi's Benz Tiflis 1907 "Ma
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you have ever known me. Can’t you
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after me. I would have liked to bri
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From the very beginning little Soph
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like he: They look at someone and k
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long ride with Claudia and her pare
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In the evening, alone with Dahl and
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maternal rule?" Alexandra burst out
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hair and build. Cousin Tamara was t
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along, which I will tie to the pers
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I could live just as well in Svanet
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suspected to suffer from tuberculos
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The dinner feast became a grand aff
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things." Alexandra surprised Shalva
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cut the bread effigy into small pie
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her hands during her examination. W
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Adishi Gocha Teaching Dream Work Ad
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talked to me during the night, but
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Ilia Chavchavadze's funeral train a
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Their slightly feminist-tinged conv
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he spent six hours with her and twi
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and patience are most important. A
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strokes on large pieces of newspape
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while Izabel became their quietly d
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ankles, this très-solide, yet well
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in 1907! At first, this fact and th
Page 296 and 297: my company. Together, we could have
Page 298 and 299: covered with faded, dark-red plush,
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Page 302 and 303: Konrad in China 1911-1912 In Octobe
Page 304 and 305: father is very impressed by your so
Page 306 and 307: Niko. "You asked me what would happ
Page 308 and 309: teachers of the great Medresses in
Page 310 and 311: The patient, an old man suffering f
Page 312 and 313: Konrad's Return from China St. Pert
Page 314 and 315: which I did not understand. When I
Page 316 and 317: Konrad dug a thick, battered sketch
Page 318 and 319: everybody. "Konrad, will you let me
Page 320 and 321: Alexandra let out a peal of laughte
Page 322 and 323: Alexandra's Journey to Munich 1913
Page 324 and 325: ediscovering the old sympathies. Pe
Page 326 and 327: Dahl's Examination of Alexandra Mun
Page 328 and 329: in Svaneti may not have been perman
Page 330 and 331: "My shadow-soul flies into an embra
Page 332 and 333: Ever since Claudia’s outbreak in
Page 334 and 335: A Visit to Kandinsky Murnau 1913 Al
Page 336 and 337: sexual arousal, dance rhythms, and
Page 338 and 339: He invited them to dinner in the vi
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Page 342 and 343: Petersburg. They will have a simple
Page 344 and 345: you smile meekly and remain silent.
Page 348 and 349: of his faithful. One night around t
Page 350 and 351: ead and the resignation of the Empe
Page 352 and 353: Vladimir gulped down his glass of v
Page 354 and 355: Their Flight to Georgia May 1918 In
Page 356 and 357: It was an unreal night, the scare a
Page 358 and 359: negotiate the bad mountain tracks.
Page 360 and 361: was very much of her own mind. Meli
Page 362 and 363: director at the hospital until the
Page 364 and 365: Kräuterfrau, a herbalist in the Ge
Page 366 and 367: He paused and took a sip from his g
Page 368 and 369: German Troops in Tbilisi 1918 - 191
Page 370 and 371: would crown the tombstone on his gr
Page 372 and 373: we are late." "Tell me what was you
Page 374 and 375: adventure on that German ship to Ha
Page 376 and 377: "Friedrich, who was a very successf
Page 378 and 379: Alexandra’s diminutive scribble w
Page 380 and 381: The snotty character in the shaft-b
Page 382 and 383: final reckoning with Georgia. Withi
Page 384 and 385: again war was raging behind the mou
Page 386 and 387: She undid it and let it flow into m
Page 388 and 389: ut she did not explain why―a Sufi
Page 390 and 391: weeks among the obscurer Greek writ
Page 392 and 393: A List of people "Konrad and Alexan
Page 394: Sources Little information exists o
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