‘Stop hinting and beating around the bush!’ Gurdweill began to get excited. ‘You know I can’t stand that kind of thing! Just come right out with it.’

‘I think it’s quite clear. You’re the one who likes mysteries around here. Do you really want me to call things by their true name? Fear, for example.’

‘What fear?’ shouted Gurdweill. ‘There’s no fear! The idea of fear is completely out of place here!’

‘If you’re so sure that everything is all right, why are you so upset?’

‘That’s enough!’ announced Gurdweill. ‘I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’d rather smoke a pipe.’

‘A pipe can’t change the facts,’ insisted the other. ‘I’m talking about the childish fear of seeing things as they really are … Not to mention that other, of which we are both well aware …’

‘Donkey! Idiot!’ Thea’s familiar words of abuse rose uncontrollably to Gurdweill’s lips. He forgot all about the pipe. ‘I’ve already told you before that I don’t want to hear that word again! He takes hold of some silly word and doesn’t want to let it go! “Fear, fear!” Fear of whom? Is that how well you know me? A coward? Prove it! Let’s hear some facts! I could quote a few incidents that prove just the opposite. For example — but I really don’t want to get into an argument with a fool like you!’

‘First of all, my friend, keep calm. I’ve already told you that your excitement looks suspicious to me … But let’s leave it alone. You wanted to smoke a pipe, didn’t you? Go ahead! We’ve got plenty of time, haven’t we? As for the rest — that’s the whole point! It’s precisely the fact that you’re not a coward by nature that makes the whole thing so astonishing! That a woman — well, never mind. Light your pipe first …’

Gurdweill reached out in the darkness for the chair next to the couch, where he hung his clothes and placed his watch and smoking gear. After fumbling about a bit, he found the tobacco and began stuffing his pipe.

‘A pipe is an agreeable thing, I admit,’ whispered the other again, ‘but when it’s the only thing a man has in the world, it’s not very much, is it?’

‘What do you mean, the only thing? What a lie! There are quite a few other things, I’d say! There’s the child and there’s Thea … and there’s …’