Gurdweill said nothing. How was she supposed to know that Thea worked all day long? And besides, what difference did it make who looked after him? The main thing was that he was healthy and well developed. ‘He lacks for nothing under my care,’ he wanted to say. ‘I look after him better than any woman. I wouldn’t trust Thea to take care of him even if she wanted to.’

‘You can’t say that he’s not a healthy baby,’ he said in the end, pointing to Martin, who was sleeping in his carriage.

‘No, nobody could deny that he’s healthy. But nevertheless, it’s not a job for a man, in my opinion.’

‘But if I tell you that his mother can’t do it!’ By now there was a note of annoyance in Gurdweill’s voice. ‘She simply can’t do it, I tell you!’

He took out his watch. It was nearly half past five: time to go home. He said goodbye to his neighbour on the bench and began walking away, pushing the carriage carefully in front of him. Women were really stupid! he reflected. You could tell them something a thousand times and they simply refused to get it into their heads!

He negotiated the busy Praterstern, with the age-blackened Tegetthoff monument looming up commandingly in the middle of it, and soon reached his own street, which was now deep in shade and so quiet that the silence hit him in the face like something tangible. He left the carriage in the vestibule and carried the baby up to the room, where he put him down on the bed, and went downstairs again to bring up the carriage. Meanwhile the baby woke up and let out a shrill, despairing wail, as if somebody were about to kill him. Gurdweill rocked him in the carriage and spoke to him in a reasonable tone of voice: ‘I’m ashamed of you! A big boy like you, crying like a woman. Mother will be here soon to give you your supper, you’ll see!’

The child fell silent for a moment, but immediately began again. Gurdweill took him out of the carriage and began walking up and down the room, bouncing him in his arms, just like Thea used to do to him when she felt like a romp. Martin refused to stop crying.