She led him into the room he remembered from the year before, which was still quite light. Nothing had changed during the course of the year, as if the months had passed somewhere outside, far away, while here, inside the room, time had stood still, and all was exactly as before, except for the sound of hammering, which no longer disturbed the quiet as it had done then. Suddenly Gurdweill knew, with utter certainty, that deep within himself the inner core of his own being, too, had remained intact, and that it could never be changed by the passing of time and external circumstances of life — which gave rise in him to a fleeting sense of the eternity of the universe. He said, ‘I’m so glad, Frau Mitteldorfer, glad from the bottom of my heart, to see you looking well and healthy!’

Her mother came into the room and almost fell round Gurdweill’s neck, so great was her joy at seeing him. So welcome, so dear a guest! She would go and put the coffee on at once. It would be ready in a second. Herr Gurdweill had come at just the right time, for Franzi was about to go to the cinema in Gumpendorfer Strasse. If he had come fifteen minutes later he would have missed her. And now, if Herr Gurdweill wished, he could go with her. Poor baby, she deserved a little fun after what she had been through these past months — wasn’t that so? They could go straight after coffee. She would bring it in a jiffy.

The old woman hurried out of the room.

‘Mother seems intent on chasing you out of the house,’ said Franzi with a smile. ‘But it’s really not necessary. I can easily give up the cinema today; I’m so glad to see you.’

‘Not at all,’ said Gurdweill. She was on no account to change her plans for him. He would accompany her with pleasure, if she so wished. But in that case they had better hurry if they didn’t want to miss the beginning of the film.

‘The cinema’s only a few steps away. We won’t be late — they only start after nine.’

Gurdweill was careful not to refer to her illness in case it embarrassed her. But the young woman immediately referred to his visit to Steinhof herself, with a frankness that disconcerted him.