She looked at him, hesitated, and then left the room. He opened the balcony door and a strong breeze blew in. It felt quite pleasant, full of the smell of the sea and the warmth of the sun, which was shining in the middle of the sky. As he dressed, he looked out to sea. There was an impetuous motion to it today; the whole surface was flecked with foam and the waves looked like mouths laughing. She was a long time in the bathroom, he thought, until he went into the lounge to turn on the radio and found her there, cleaning and putting things straight with great industriousness. “Thank you,” he said, “but leave that for the bawwab.4 It’s time for me to go.”

“Go ahead,” she replied, without stopping what she was doing.

“But when are you going to get dressed?”

She sat on a big chair in the lounge and smiled.

“You may be able to dawdle,” he said, “but I’ve got an appointment.”

“Do you live alone?” she asked quietly.

“Yes…but come on!!”

She started combing her hair. “I told myself you might need someone as a companion and servant,” she said, showing a genuine shyness for the first time.

“Thank you,” he replied in astonishment, “but I don’t need anything like that. Haven’t you got a home?”

“No.”

“Where are you living?”

“Sometimes with the woman who owns the café,” she replied shamefully, “and other times I spend the night in the café! We don’t find any work in the winter, and last summer was just like winter, in any case!”

“Whatever your problem is,” he snapped, “you’ll find the solution outside.”

She stood up. “I didn’t save anything for this winter,” she said quietly, “and you need someone to serve you.”

Her insistence only made him more obdurate. “Why don’t you go to Cairo for the winter?” he said.

She looked at him in amazement, as though the idea would never have occurred to her. “But I’m from here,” she answered simply.

“Haven’t you got any family?”

“Of course, but I can’t go back to them!”

“Aren’t you afraid one of them might see you?”

“They’re in Tanta.41 That’s where I come from.”

“If you don’t mind,” he said, annoyed at having let the conversation go this far, “I’m in a hurry.”

As she went into the other room to put her clothes on, he remarked to himself that they were very much alike—both disgraced outcasts. When the girl came back she seemed to have despaired of arousing his sympathy and tried being playful. “Is that your family?” she asked coyly, looking at the picture of the Greek family on the wall.

He laughed in spite of himself. “What a devil you are!”

Her laugh was unexpectedly merry. Then, more seriously, she asked him, “Are you from Alexandria?”

“No.”