Konrad and Alexandra (PDF) - Rolf Gross

have a similar situation in our villages, where the priests determine the number of pregnancies. Bavaria, despite itssuperficial laissez-faire, is a deeply Catholic, patriarchal, backward country. Some day I would like to discuss this subjectwith you at a different place."On the way through the dark Englische Garten back to the tram in Schwabing, Konrad talked animatedly with Katharina.Alexandra and Niko, Claudia on his arm, lagged behind.Quietly Alexandra mused about her sudden, sharp impatience with Claudia. What had irked her and had turned up herGeorgian temper? Her sharp retort about birth control had only been a verbal explosion of some deeper crisis in herselfwhich she could not name.She looked at Claudia on Niko’s arm—Katharina’s complete opposite—sensitive, dark, her emotions controlled by anintelligent mind and an excellent education. Was she jealous of her?She had always loved this brother of hers more than was normal between siblings. At times she worried about herincestuous attraction to her handsome, Georgian brother. She could see that Niko was in love with Claudia. Was thecause of her irritation an impulse from this dark side of her heart? She could not figure herself out.When they parted she embraced and kissed Claudia as Niko’s friend without any reservation, and in that instant shethought she knew what had provoked her. Claudia was much like herself, complicated, dark, and with a sense for thetragic. However, Claudia seemed to lack her often violent passions, and her outburst must have been an attempt to upsetClaudia’s equanimity. She envied Claudia the control of her emotions. I have still much to learn about myself, shethought. A trace of doubt remained, however."Look," Alexandra said to Niko with a laugh, trying to shake off her annoyance with herself, "two Germans followed bytwo and a half Georgians."And to herself: Niko is about to marry his sister!In that at least she would be right. A few days later Niko, with a trace of self-consciousness, said, "I really would like tomarry Claudia. She is so much like you, Lexako, but she treats me much more kindly. Besides she plays the piano mostbeautifully."Alexandra asked him to tell her more about Claudia, she had, after all, only met her very briefly. Niko told her thatClaudia Dahl came from a family of medical men, her father was a clinical psychotherapist. Her mother, an accomplishedpianist, was the dynamic center of their family. She came from an old Munich family of painters and artists. Her housewas the meeting place of the famous and the controversial, artists, writers, and musicians.Niko blushed. "Claudia and her mother have opened a whole new world of experiences to me, above all in music, aboutwhich I knew next to nothing. You remember the flute you gave me for Christmas five years ago? I have been takinglessons, and ever so often Claudia and I play flute sonatas together."Alexandra smiled. "Your description of Claudia sounds like an advertisement for a young, nubile lady from the bestsociety—very German—what about yourself?"Abashed, Niko stuttered, "She says she loves me."Laughing out loud she replied. "Dear brother, I know that."She hugged him. "She chose well. Given time, she may even teach you how to give words to your emotions and makeyou comprehend your own love, which is not always easy for a woman to do."24.The Dahl's house in Solln1904The telephone rang for the first time. Suspicious, Alexandra picked up the receiver. Claudia’s voice, far and alien,crackled and sputtered from the instrument. "Alexandra, this is Claudia. Come and visit me and bring Otto along. Howabout in the afternoon when the men are at work? I want to see you without Niko and introduce you to my mother."Alexandra, still uneasy with the contraption that had such an alienating effect on Claudia's voice, accepted.The Dahl’s lived in Solln, a quiet part of southern Munich where ‘better’ people lived. She took the tram and from thestation walked, Otto on her hand, along the tree-shaded streets of well-kept villas each in its own small park.She was surprised to find the Dahl’s house to be an exceedingly stark, box-like building with an odd roof and large, plainwindows of various sizes randomly distributed over its bleak walls. How could anyone want to live in such a house? Itlooked as uninviting as a castle. For a while she stared at it in disbelief and then rang the bell. A small plaque announcedProf. Dr. R. Dahl, Psychotherapy, By appointment only.81