On the alley corners the prostitutes sauntered to and fro, dangling their handbags and staring at every solitary male. The Baroness gave them a quick, appraising look and made an unclear gesture with her hand. When they moved away she burst out with sudden emotion: ‘I hate them! I could kill them! I can’t understand how any man could bear to touch them. Only scum would have anything to do with them.’

‘A questionable hatred,’ Gurdweill reflected, and said nothing.

In the meantime they had already reached the Volksoper, which was locked up and silent. From here it was not far from the Baroness’s house. They walked slowly, in the middle of the street.

Suddenly, to his astonishment, Gurdweill found himself saying, ‘You know, Baroness, I feel that we would make a good couple …’

The Baroness replied with a laugh: ‘Perhaps. I’ve got nothing against it. I like you.’

She stood and looked him over from top to toe, as if he were a child who had said something cute. Then she rumpled his untidy hair.

‘You’ve got nice hair, Herr Gurdweill.’

A torrent of warmth struck his heart. His hat slipped from his hand and fell onto the street. He bent down to retrieve it, and as he did so he seized her hand and kissed it ardently. She did not protest. At that moment the sound of a car horn made them recoil and jump onto the pavement. They continued on their way. Gurdweill was beside himself. He felt like dancing in the middle of the street. ‘Now I’ll be able to walk with her like this every night,’ he said jubilantly to himself. ‘From time to time we’ll sit down on a bench and she’ll rest her head on my shoulder. How beautiful she is! And I’ll embrace her …’

‘Here we are.’ The Baroness stopped outside a five-storey house. ‘It’s late. Tomorrow I’ve got to go to the office.’

They arranged to meet the next evening, in a different café, and said goodbye. When they heard the doorman’s shuffling feet and the rattle of the keys, the Baroness bent down and kissed Gurdweill hastily on the mouth, and disappeared into the blackness of the doorway.