Dr Astel came into the room dressed in a new grey suit, ready to go out. With a carefree gesture he handed Gurdweill the fifteen schillings that the latter had requested.

‘Here you are. I’m sorry I can’t spend the evening with you. As it is, I have to hurry. Are you free on Saturday night? Good, at seven then, at the Herrenhof! And now let’s be on our way.’

They walked over to Karlsplatz, where Dr Astel hailed a passing cab and drove off.

Gurdweill felt hungry and went to have something to eat in a little bourgeois restaurant in the Wiedner Hauptstrasse. Half an hour later he was sitting in an almost empty tram, whose windows suddenly blazed, as it swerved left, in the rosy glow of the sun setting somewhere in the distance, somewhere far beyond the city or any human habitation. An agreeable, complacent feeling stole over Gurdweill, which may have had something to do with the tasty, filling meal he had just eaten. The heat of the day was fading, and it was easier to breathe. A draught blew through the empty coach, touching his face and ruffling his hair. Suddenly he remembered Lotte, and he was overwhelmed by a desire to see her again before she left the city. What a pity that he had not asked Dr Astel when she was leaving. He was sure to know. When she came back, Martin would be a big baby. He would invite her to his house, to see him. He knew that she would like him … What a strange girl she was! Why didn’t she marry Dr Astel? She should have a baby … Thea wasn’t really a natural mother, even though she loved Martin; you could see that at a glance …

Immersed in these and other similar reflections, which welled up in him as mildly as the quiet evening twilight, he reached his destination. Franzi herself opened the door, and at first he did not recognise her, partly because of the dim light in the corridor, but also because of the roundness and healthiness of her face, in contrast to the last time he had seen her in Steinhof. He took a step backwards: for a moment he wondered if he had come to the wrong door. But the young woman recognised him immediately and cried with undisguised joy: ‘Oh, Herr Gurdweill! What a surprise! Mother, come and see who’s here!’