His body language still exuded all the predictable cheer that the profession demanded, but Grete noticed again a warning or threatening expression in his pale eyes. That hadn’t been there before when they had been out house-shopping with him. She didn’t understand the looks he was exchanging with the woman. She appeared as if she was afraid of him. She had her arms crossed over her chest in a kind of defensive posture.

The real estate agent took a step toward the entry.

‘How about we go upstairs,’ he said, changing the subject, ‘so the ladies can talk. Your wife is probably too tired for the steps.’

The mother remained standing in the middle of the floor, lost and indecisive, watching the men go, as if she would have preferred to have gone with them. Then her gaze shifted to Grete’s heavy form, as if she were just seeing her for the first time.

‘There is something about that real estate agent I don’t like,’ she said crossly, unbuttoning her dress. ‘If you only knew what a woman in my position goes through,’ she added bitterly.

Grete looked sadly at her.

‘I – I’m sorry,’ she said uneasily, and suddenly it wasn’t the woman or her children she felt bad for. It was something else. And it was already on its way. They had been making plans for a long time about the house their baby was going to be raised in, and there was nothing wrong with that. They had seen quite a few houses with the agent – pretty, well-maintained houses with pretty, well-maintained people inside – and it didn’t seem as though it mattered much if the houses got sold or not. And both men had spoken politely and properly with the owners. She liked almost all the houses, but there was always something about them her husband didn’t like. And each time that he decided they weren’t going to buy it, he acted so satisfied, as if he had landed a good deal, even though they hadn’t made any deal at all. Why had he looked that way at the little stain on the ceiling? It was the same way he looked at the woman and the little girl, almost as if they too were defects in the house that could drive down the price. He probably wasn’t going to buy this house either. And when they got home, he would act as if he had made the most ingenious deal in his life. She was getting so tired of house-hunting, owning them a little in her mind, and then losing them again. She had a horrible feeling they would never buy a house, and suddenly she was on the verge of tears.

‘Do you want to see the baby?’