There was a knock on the door and then another, and the door opened. The room was in darkness, illuminated only by the light from one of the hotel windows opposite. Gurdweill was sitting with his profile to the door, withdrawn into himself, his head resting on the table, like some dark, shapeless bundle.

Dr Astel and Lotte Bondheim came into the room.

‘Hello, Gurdweill, is this how you welcome visitors?’ Dr Astel cried to the dark lump next to the table.

Gurdweill awoke with a jolt.

‘Sorry, the light, I forgot to light the lamp …’ he stammered. ‘I don’t know what happened to me. But sit down, children, please sit down!’

He stumbled around in the dark as if searching for something, and then took the oil lamp from the bedside table, next to the stove, and set it down on the big table in the middle of the room, saying as he did so, ‘Very good, excellent! What a good idea, to drop in like this, a wonderful idea!’

He lit the lamp and held out his hand to his guests. They sat down, Dr Astel next to the table and Lotte on the couch. Gurdweill, still deeply embarrassed, bustled about as if there were something important and urgent that he had to do.

‘Where’s Thea?’ enquired Lotte.

‘Thea? She’ll be here any minute,’ said Gurdweill decisively. ‘No doubt about it. She went to visit her parents. And you, my dears? How are you?’ And turning to Lotte: ‘When did you get back from the mountains? Did you have a good time there?’

‘Yes, not bad at all. And you? Is everything as usual?’

‘Yes, everything’s as usual — of course it is! But you, Lotte, you look really well, and I’m happy to see it, very happy indeed. So, tell us, how did you pass your time there? Oh, of course! I completely forgot: tea or coffee — which do you prefer?’

‘Nothing at all,’ replied Lotte. ‘Please don’t trouble yourself. We’ve just had something in the café downstairs.’

‘Sit down, sit down, there’s no need for anything,’ confirmed Dr Astel.

‘And Thea? What’s she up to?’ enquired Lotte.

‘Nothing special. Working as usual,’ said Gurdweill.

‘But you,’ said Lotte in a sincerely sympathetic tone, ‘you don’t look very well, Gurdweill. Is anything wrong?’

‘Nothing at all. I don’t think I look any worse than usual.’

Gurdweill, who for some reason could not endure any reference to his ill looks, quickly changed the subject. ‘Did you come straight from home?’ he asked, and immediately regretted the question, which seemed to him indiscreet.

‘No, we were in the Prater,’ Lotte replied simply. ‘We would have come before, but we were afraid we wouldn’t find you at home on a day like this!’

‘Actually, I wasn’t at home. I only got back about half an hour ago.’