‘The truth of these matters can never be scientifically established. They’re always open to different interpretations,’ remarked the Baroness. And turning to Gurdweill: ‘And you, Rudy, haven’t you got anything to say?’

‘No, I’ve got a bit of a headache,’ said Gurdweill, who did not feel like talking due to the black mood that had suddenly and inexplicably descended upon him. He longed to be alone with Thea, somewhere else, with nobody to disturb them, but she was apparently enjoying herself and showed no signs of wishing to leave the café. Leaning back with his face to the window, the bottom half of which was covered with a heavy, rough wine-red curtain, he sat and smoked and tried to make out, through the slit in the curtains, the profile of a passer-by in the light breaking out of the café and climbing up the opposite wall, where the shadows of the people sitting inside were printed. For some reason, he remembered with a pang the mean look in the eyes of the old woman in the portrait in Heidelberger’s house. Yes, the whole affair was very strange, including the fact that he had agreed to go up to Heidelberger’s place, whereas he had stubbornly refused to go home with Vrubiczek, who was his friend …

In the meantime Ulrich and Lotte Bondheim came in, intoxicated by the chilly spring air. The two women surveyed each other for a moment as Dr Astel introduced them. Gurdweill sensed clearly that Lotte did not take to Thea, and for some reason it seemed quite natural to him that this should be so. As if he had known it all along.

As she sat down in the place vacated for her by Dr Astel, opposite Thea, Lotte said, ‘I’ve already heard a lot about you, Baroness, and I’m glad to meet you.’

At the same time she noted complacently to herself: ‘Badly dressed, and no beauty either! Her nose is too short, her chin too long and flat. And those little eyes, without any eyebrows, have a hard look. I wouldn’t change places with her, not even to be a baroness … Gurdweill will get what he deserves from her, the miserable creature.’

She gave him a pitying look and said, ‘And you, Gurdweill, you’ve completely deserted your old friends, eh? You’ve quite disappeared from view!’

‘I’ve been here a number of times without seeing you,’ he replied in a tone of self-justification. ‘I heard you weren’t too well. Are you better now?’

‘But of course! What choice did I have? If I’d waited for you to visit me I could have waited forever!’

‘Some of the blame is mine,’ said the Baroness with a smile. ‘I take up a lot of Rudolfus’s time. You’re not angry with me on that account, are you, Fräulein?’