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Back Married Life Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. About the Author
  2. Title Page
  3. PART ONE
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. PART TWO
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. PART THREE
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. PART FOUR
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. PART FIVE
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35

Red in the face, she turned on her heel and abruptly left the room. Gurdweill hurried to take the oil lamp and followed her into the corridor to light her way. He heard the hasty drumming of her footsteps on the stairs, and he felt a sudden need to run after her, and stay with her until she calmed down. It was unthinkable to leave her alone in her present state! But he stayed where he was at the head of the stairs, with the lamp in his hand, and remained there for a while after the front door opened and closed and Lotte’s footsteps disappeared into the night. Then he went back into the room and mechanically put the lamp down on the table. His heart contracted in a pain so immense that he could hardly breathe. He felt that a terrible wrong had been done to Lotte and, although he was not directly to blame, he had witnessed it without protesting. Suddenly he went up to the couch and fell on his knees before it. He buried his head in the place where Lotte had been sitting and stayed there for a long time, petrified with grief. When Thea came home half an hour later, she found him still kneeling motionless in front of the couch. And he did not stir until she poked him, like some inanimate object, with her foot.

28

28

All Gurdweill’s devoted care and concern did not help. Two days after Lotte’s visit, the baby changed completely. He began to cry without stopping and to twitch convulsively. It was impossible to put him to sleep, and when he did finally drop off, he woke up again after a moment or two, screaming. When Gurdweill saw that his screams did not stop, he telephoned a doctor he knew who lived in the neighbourhood and who had been to see the baby a number of times before. The doctor came early in the evening and found that Martin was suffering from a gastric complaint ‘common among infants at this age’. He recommended immediate hospitalisation, since the illness in question was ‘not to be taken lightly’, he would be telling a lie if he said otherwise, and here at home he could not be taken care of properly. The child needed a doctor to look in on him several times a day, which would be quite impossible at home.