He had arrived on the morning of the funeral, had asked, with loving urgency, if despite his lateness he could still see his father-in-law, had gone to the autopsy lab, had delayed the closing of the coffin, had, in a tactful, sincere, restrained way been deeply moved. After the funeral Agathe had feigned exhaustion, and Ulrich had been obliged to dine out with his brother-in-law. As he told her afterward, Hagauer’s constant company had made him as frantic as a tight collar, and for that reason alone he had done everything to dispose of him as soon as possible. Hagauer had planned to go to the capital for a conference of educators, to spend another day there calling on people at the ministry and doing some sightseeing, and had as an attentive husband scheduled two days prior to this to spend with his wife and look after her inheritance; but Ulrich, in accordance with the agreement he had made with his sister, had invented a story that made it seem impossible for Hagauer to be put up at the house and informed him that a room was reserved for him at the best hotel in town. As expected, Hagauer had wavered; the hotel would be inconvenient and expensive, and it would be only proper for him to pay for himself; on the other hand, perhaps two days could be devoted to his calls and sightseeing in the capital, and if one traveled by night, one could save the cost of an overnight stay. And so Hagauer, pretending regret, had said he found it very difficult to take advantage of Ulrich’s thoughtful provisions, and finally revealed his resolve, which could hardly be modified now, to depart that same evening. Thus all that was left to discuss was the question of the inheritance, and now, remembering that moment, Agathe smiled again, for at her request Ulrich had told her husband that the will was not to be opened for a few days yet. Agathe would be there, after all, he was told, to look after his interests, and he would also receive a proper legal notification; and as for furniture, mementos, and the like, Ulrich, as a bachelor, would make no claim he was not prepared to subordinate to his sister’s wishes. Finally he had asked Hagauer whether he would agree in case they decided to sell the house, which was of no use to anyone, of course without committing himself, as none of them had seen the will yet, and Hagauer had replied, without committing himself of course, that he could think of no reason to object for the moment, but that he must reserve the right to determine his position if it came to an actual transaction. All this Agathe had suggested to her brother, and he had passed it on, because he thought nothing of it and because he wanted to get rid of Hagauer. But suddenly Agathe felt miserable again, for after they had managed this so adroitly, her husband had come to her room, together with her brother, to say goodbye to her. Agathe had behaved as unfriendly as she could and said there was absolutely no way of telling when she would return home. Knowing him as she did, she immediately saw that he was unprepared for this and that he resented the way his decision to leave right away was now making him look like the unloving husband; and he was suddenly offended in retrospect by the suggestion that he stay at a hotel, and by the cool reception he had found at the house, but since he was a man who lived according to plan, he said nothing, decided to present his wife with the facts later on, and kissed her, after taking his hat, politely on the lips. And this kiss, which Ulrich had seen, now seemed to demolish Agathe. “How is it possible,” she asked herself in dismay, “that I stayed with this man for so long? But then, haven’t I put up with things my whole life without resisting?!” She reproached herself passionately: “If I were worth anything at all, it could never have gone this far.”