A sense of grief and bafflement overwhelmed him as if the news was something he could not have expected. He was lost for words.

“A tailor.”

He knew this was something inevitable. He would not try to prevent it nor could he hope to. It was like death. He did not utter a word. She dragged him by the hand to her room and seated him on the settee next to herself.

“Don’t you care?”

He felt a sharp pain in the depth of his soul. It was as if the world was fading away. He said angrily, “Don’t ask meaningless questions!”

“Calm down!”

“I’d better go.”

“But you won’t be able to meet her.”

The world faded more and more.

She went on: “You should have realized that by yourself.”

“How do you mean?”

“Her mother is keeping a strict eye on her movements. A real man is better than an illusion…”

“A real man is better than an illusion,” he mumbled in a stupor.

“You love her, don’t you?”

“I love her,” he said disconsolately.

“A well-worn story in our alley.”

“Yet it is true.”

“Great! And why haven’t you popped the question?”

“I can’t,” he said poignantly.

“Listen, the girl has begged me to tell you!”

He sighed in total despair.

“Go at once and propose to her or let me do it for you,” the woman said.

He murmured something incomprehensible as if he were speaking an unknown language. The woman was baffled. He continued his soliloquy: “And God will not forgive me.”

“God forbid! Do you think her unworthy of a civil servant like yourself?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Omm Husni!”

“Speak your mind to me! I’m like a mother to you…”

“I can’t get married…”

“Let her wait for you for as long as you wish.”

“It would be a long wait…”

“Give her your word. That would be enough.”

“No. I’m not selfish. For the sake of her happiness I must say no.”