In fact, there was hardly another figure who could match Helena's charisma at present, while her humanitarian halo dazzled, offering inspiration that came without a catch.

Now, Europeans adored her to the core, with men, women, and children alike holding her in high esteem. It was an unprecedented positive development in a continent long divided by war and strife throughout its history, and a person admired in one nation would be revered in others—it had been truly rare to find a figure univers