"That, too. Although of course that is neither so easy nor so simple. And besides," she added, with her arch expression, "it would be a pity if one had to shut it up again too soon. But we'll talk about all that later on. You go now and telegraph."
"Yes, but what!" he exclaimed in such desperation that she could not help laughing.
Then she said: "Quite simple, 'Shall have the honour to present myself at your office to-morrow noon. Yours very obediently or faithfully ... or very proudly....'"
He looked at her. Then he kissed her hand and said: "You're certainly the cleverer of us two."
His tone seemed to hint "the cooler too." But a gentle, tender and somewhat mocking look from her turned away the innuendo.
"Well, I'll be back again in ten minutes." He left her with a cheerful face, went into the next room and shut the door. Opposite, in that other room, it now occurred to him again forcibly—his dead child lay in its coffin.... For the necessary steps, to use Doctor Stauber's expression of yesterday, were bound to have been already taken. He felt a paroxysm of grievous yearning.
Frau Golowski came out of the hall. She came up to him and spoke with admiration of Anna's resignation and calmness.
George listened somewhat absent-mindedly. His looks kept always glancing through the doorway and at last he said gently: "I should like to see it once more."
She looked at him, at first slightly shocked and then sympathetically.
"Nailed down already?" he asked anxiously.