Konrad and Alexandra (PDF) - Rolf Gross

Alexandra shot him a glance, which Niko acknowledged with a toss of his head. "Stop it, Lexako!"Vladimir smiled. "I hear that you, Alexandra, were abducted in Georgia just before you got married. Is that a true story ora libelous rumor? In Russia we have a very romantic image of Georgia."Konrad held his breath. Alexandra flushed, but controlled, thought, that is what you get for playing with fire. Shedispassionately described the superficial facts of her abduction, her final rescue she mentioned only with a singlesentence: obviously she had survived.Vladimir commented that it sounded like an old Georgian epic, he joked: "The ‘Lady in the Panther Skin!’". Alexandrasilently forgave him, for reasons which she could not have explained. The others were more concerned with theuppermost level of her story. Becky shook herself. "What a horrible thing to happened to you. You must have beenfrightened. I would have fainted." Niko laughed. "You don’t know my sister, she is not easily frightened, and especiallynot by a man."Alexandra gave him a grateful smile.Pokerfaced, Vladimir winked at Alexandra, which she would not forgive him. One question Alexandra was curious about,how had the story of her abduction reached Vladimir’s ears? "Oh," he said casually, "that rumor circulated long beforeyou arrived. You are famous in St. Petersburg. I find you quite remarkable, not because you disarmed your Georgianabductor—obviously you knew your Georgian men well enough—but because you faced down the self-important St.Petersburg university officials. A pregnant lady! And you seem to be perfectly capable of holding your own. I doff my hatto you, Princess Alexandra Dadiani-Rost, first class!"In different circumstances Alexandra would have slapped his face. "Well," she said with a seductive smile and a cuttingvoice, "now that you have met this famous lady, I give you permission to circulate your impression of her. I would bepleased to hear your high opinion repeated from another directions."Konrad frowned and asked Becky whether it would be possible to see her father’s collection. Marti joined him. Thecollection was rumored to be one of the largest private collections of contemporary French paintings outside of France. Aflattered Becky indicated that during her parents’ absence she could easily arrange a tour of the house. A date was setfor December.That night, after everyone had left, and they had washed the dishes together, Konrad made love to Alexandra. He wasvery gentle and considerate with her. In the middle of his efforts she suddenly began to laugh her father’s laugh. Konradstopped disarmed."Oh," she said tentatively, "it just occurred to me that you are making love to Becky!"Konrad sat up, how did she know that his mind was distracted by the petite, voluptuous Becky?"Look, it is not hard for a woman to guess what a man is thinking when he is so close to her, but the reason that Ilaughed was that I too was in bed with Vladimir—that lout. What are we going to do about these crossed attractions?"Konrad, still numbed by her sixth sense, had not much to suggest. He would try to make an honest effort to put Becky outof his mind."Ah, nonsense,"said his dear wife, "that wouldn’t help much. Every time you got close to her, you would be boiling over,and if I slapped this man for his insolence, all I would accomplish is to increase his arrogance. The only way to shut himup would be to take him to bed. There words don’t count, either he is a man, or he is a conceited coward with impertinentmanners."Konrad looked doubtful, hers was a tricky approach, but he did see her female logic, and since his preoccupation withBecky had to do with a woman, her argument could also be applied to him. "But wouldn’t this be premeditated adultery?"He asked. "Legally yes," she said, "but not, if we both understand that it makes our love stronger and us freer."He sighed, he would have to think about her proposition. "For a while, my dear," Alexandra laughed, "you don’t have toworry that you might find your bed empty one night, in my condition my abilities to seduce a man are rather limited!"She easily rekindled his desire, and he, now completely focused on her, took her more ardently than he had intended.17.A visit to Becky's museum1900After weeks of leaden skies, icy fog, snow, and slush in the streets the day they were to meet at Becky’s greeted themwith a sharp wind, blinding sunshine, and a biting cold under a deep blue sky. The air was filled with fine, windblownsnow crystals that piled into drifts along the fences and houses. Their apartment, which had been depressingly dark for58