‘The middle of the night!’ Thea laughed. ‘I am very busy, it’s true. And not with nonsense either, my dear … But for you I’m prepared to put everything else aside. Just say when it’s convenient for you, and I’ll be at your disposal. Besides, Rudolfus is home every night. Isn’t he worth anything in your eyes?’

‘On the contrary,’ replied Lotte gravely, ‘in my opinion he’s worth a great deal, more than a thousand others …’

‘Come, come, let’s not exaggerate. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that you were in love with him, ha-ha … But you really are exaggerating, my dear. Here I can claim superior knowledge, I think.’

The men were engaged in a conversation of their own and paid no attention to their whispers. Gurdweill was now sitting at the other end of the table, too far away to overhear them. But he sensed that Thea was talking about him, and this made him feel uneasy. The room suddenly seemed unbearably hot. He longed to go outside for a breath of fresh air. ‘It’s a crime to come into this place on a holiday,’ he said to himself. ‘The ugly faces, the stuffiness, the heat!’

Lotte suddenly flared up and interrupted Thea in a furious whisper. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself! Yes, ashamed to talk about your husband like that! I happen to know him very well indeed — I knew him before you did! Shame on you!’

‘Why are you so excited, my dear,’ said Thea with affected calm, ‘there’s no reason for you to excite yourself … In a minute I really will think that you’re madly in love with him.’

‘What if I am?’ cried Lotte, hostile sparks shooting from her eyes, ‘what if I am? You can think what you like — who cares what you think? But I’ll tell you one thing: all the men that you, that you go around with, aren’t worth his little finger! They’re not worth the dust on his shoes!’

‘Please don’t exaggerate, child,’ said Thea with a sneer. ‘What do you understand about men? There, there, baby!’

‘What you understand about men doesn’t interest me in the least! I don’t want your kind of understanding! Your men are nothing to me, nothing! I don’t need to take whatever comes to hand! I can pick and choose! I’m young enough and pretty enough for the pick of the bunch!’