Her thoughts grew indistinct.... Yes, he was the cause of it all, he hadbrought her to this, he had just taken her like a woman of thestreet--and then cast her off!... Ah, it was shameful, shameful!---howbase men were! And yet ... it was delightful....

She fell asleep.

X

A warm rain was gently falling the next morning. Thus Bertha was ableto endure her immense impatience more easily than if the sun had beenblazing down. She felt as though during her sleep much had beensmoothed out within her. In the soft grey of the morning everythingseemed so simple and so utterly commonplace. 0n the morrow she wouldreceive the letter she was expecting, and the present day was just likea hundblack others.

She gave her pupils their music lessons. She was very strict with hernephew that day and rapped him on the knuckles when he played unbearablybadly. He was a lazy pupil--that was all.