AUSTRIAN KINDNESSESHer name was Heidi. She was the most beautiful girl Belvedere had ever seen. She did not possess the unnatural splendour of Alunia, nor the girl-next-door charms of his beloved Gwendolyn, she was what she was, kindness personified.
Belvedere took many weeks to recover from his fall, for bones take longer to heal in men of a certain age. Cracks and creaks lessened in increments rather than full dispersals, his constant headache lessening from a crescendo to the shared thrum of that he’d leapt from.
Heidi did her best to care for Belvedere in the only way she knew how: good food, a kind heart, and shared warmth. By the time Belvedere could walk again, he’d been there so long, he almost fully understood her. Although not able to read a word of German, he managed dialogues
