Konrad and Alexandra (pdf) - Rolf Gross

store, how can I serve you today?"
Alexandra explained and Anatoli brought out a number of different boots for Konrad.
They were made from the most supple leather, yet strong and durable where it mattered. Most
had long, turned-up points in front.
"What are these horns for?" asked Konrad Alexandra in German, running his fingers
along the extravagant curve.
"Oh," she laughed, "for decoration of course. But the local joke is that the heroes hold
onto them when squatting down to answer a human need."
Both were laughing now. Anatoli, left out, watched his valued customers with alarm.
"Professor Konrad Yulyevich wanted to know why the shoes are pointed in front," she
explained to Anatoli. "He said that he had no intention of growing claws. So I told him that the
points served to fend off the pigs in the villages."
Anatoli, his dark eyes darting unsure from Alexandra to Konrad, meekly joined their
mirth.
Konrad ordered a pair of high-shafted riding boots, Georgian style, but insisted on
another pair without horns in the "English style. "For my city needs," he explained. The boots,
made especially for Konrad, would be ready in a few days.
When they were back in the street Konrad declared sullenly, "I don’t see any need for
these horns in town."
"O ho," she laughed, "you think so? Evidently you have not seen our latrines yet!"
"I did, but, my God, you are a delightfully outspoken Princess. You are about to change
my whole view of the aristocracy."
Her blue eyes flashed mockingly. "The reason is that you have never taken out a
woman from the upper society, else you would have long realized that we are just as human as
the bourgeoisie—but we have no need to conceal our vulgar side."
He had to admit to that.
Henri Halvejian had his shop on the second floor of a building that was entirely occupied
by goldsmiths and jewelers. An armed guard with a dashing mustache who looked like a bandit
with a high fur hat, two bands of munitions crosswise over his chest, and an old-fashioned gun
by his side, stood at the narrow entrance. As they approached, he presented his gun, stood at
attention, and let them pass with a "Good morning, Princess Dadiani!"
Konrad laughed. "Ha, the Georgian army at work. That comes from taking out a truly
aristocratic lady. I am amazed, everybody seems to know you by name! "
"They do," she said with annoyance, dismissing his comment with a sweep of her
elegant hand.
Henri, truly delighted, got up from his workbench and greeted Alexandra and her guest
with a smile. A broad-shouldered man without a beard, about five years older than Konrad.
Very personably and unpretentiously, he bade them to sit down. He took off his glasses and
closed his shop.
"I don’t want anybody to disturb us. How are your architecture classes coming,
Alexandra?"
"Henri, they are terribly boring. Schröder is trying to make us memorize design
templates for all kinds of architectural details. In another month he will have killed all my visual
imagination. Will I ever be able to conjure up another beautiful design on my own, independent
of these curlicues?"
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