The wind had not died down. Gurdweill was not wearing a coat, and he suddenly felt cold to the marrow of his bones. No! — he decided — he would leave it until tomorrow! Tomorrow he would fix everything. And he stood up and set off in the direction of Taborstrasse.

He walked slowly. He had plenty of time. It crossed his mind that here in Taborstrasse it was warmer, but he did not dwell too long on this idea. What difference did it make to him now? In any case he wouldn’t freeze to death! The main thing was that he didn’t know what to do with his time. It was only eight o’clock — there was a gap of fourteen hours, fourteen empty and unutterably oppressive hours, until ten o’clock the following day. He found himself in front of the Zentral cinema, from whose entrance a dense shaft of light emerged, reaching all the way to the opposite pavement. Out of habit, he stopped to look at the advertisements on either side of the door, without taking in a word. When he turned to go he suddenly saw Thea coming towards him with a strange man. His mind cleared immediately, and he felt a choking sensation rise in his throat. He stood rooted to the spot. Thea, who recognised him from a distance, motioned him with her head to go away. Gurdweill did not move. As she walked past him she aimed such a vicious pinch at his arm that he almost cried out in pain. ‘Idiot!’ she said under her breath, and entered the cinema with her escort, who had not noticed anything.

His first outraged impulse was to run after her and shout in her face that the baby was mortally ill, and how dare she take it so lightly … But he recovered himself in time and continued walking towards the city centre, utterly dejected and miserable. He was all alone, with nobody in the whole world to whom he could speak of his grinding sorrow. He had never in his life felt as lonely as he did now. He wandered aimlessly from street to street, a dull animal pain seething inside him like a heavy poison. Without knowing how he got there, he suddenly found himself outside the Café Herrenhof. He went in. Dr Astel and Ulrich were sitting together, deep in conversation. He accepted their invitation to join them, but after a few moments he stood up again.

‘No!’ he said. ‘I’m not staying here!’