A topsy-turvy tale of European circles, Cold War repercussions and crosscurrent connections, in which a puzzleheaded Russian princess,

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‘Linus! How dare you!’

Hermann retrieved the case and gently took her arm.

‘Wally! Unhand me, you brute!’

‘The door is this way, Princess.’

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a dogged revolutionist from the erstwhile DDR,

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“Max, komm her!” flustered George. “Oh, what's gotten into him?

He’s never disobeyed me like this. Max!”

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and a non compos linguist at the celebrated Sorbonne,

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“Good Lord,” the rector hissed. “What a jackass. Josephine!

Langouste's groveling in broad daylight. Go down there

on the double and kick the cur off the sidewalk.”

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unwittingly heed the words of a Wise River Trout –

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‘Whither thou goest, the Way lieth in either Direction.’