I suddenly lost my fear. I threw myself on it and held it down as if it had been a burglar or a woman attempting to flee. However, there was no stopping it and despite all my angry efforts I could not even slow down its inexorable progress. In my desperate struggle against this appalling power I was thrown to the ground, then rolled over and dragged along the gravel. In no time, the rest of the furniture in its train began to trample all over me, bruising my legs in the process. When I let go of the desk the rest of the pieces careered over my body as a cavalry charge mows down a fallen rider.

Frightened witless, I managed to drag myself away from the avenue and hide myself again behind the trees, from which position I watched everything down to the smallest, the most modest of my former possessions, including some of whose existence I was not even aware, all disappear.

Then in the distance, from within my home now echoing as empty houses do, I heard a tremendous noise of doors shutting. My house from attic to cellar rang with the sound of slamming until the door which I myself had just recently opened in terror finally also closed.

I too now fled and ran towards the town. I did not regain any degree of composure until I was again in the streets where late-night revellers were making their way home. I went to a hotel where I was known and rang the bell. I dusted myself down before going in to explain that I had lost my keys, among them the one for the garden gate where my servants slept in the separate house within the fence protecting my fruit and vegetables from thieves.

I dived into the bed they gave me and covered myself up to the eyes. I could not sleep, however, and as I lay waiting for daylight I could hear my heart pounding. I had ordered my servants to be alerted at dawn, and at seven o’clock my manservant came knocking at the door.

He looked devastated.

‘Something dreadful happened in the night, Monsieur,’ he said.

‘Oh? What was that?’

‘Monsieur has been robbed of every single article in the house, every single one, down to the very smallest piece.’

This news pleased me. I have no idea why. Who knows? I felt perfectly in control, certain that I could pretend and that I need tell no one what I had seen. I was sure I could keep this terrible secret hidden in my subconscious. I replied: ‘It must be the same people who stole my keys. We must let the police know at once. I shall join you in a few minutes after I’ve got dressed.’