“Why were you waiting for him?”
Cesiphos fumbled with his fingers, but spelled out not a single word. Marania struck him lightly on the arm and again asked:
“Why?”
“Because ... because, somehow, I thought he was coming. The door was unbolted.”
His master shook him angrily.
“Why were you waiting for him?” he asked a third time. “How did you know he was coming?”
Cesiphos began to tremble. He did not know why he had believed Sobraji would come that night. Something in his mind had whispered it to him—instinct, suspicion, hatred. But he could not explain this to Marania. So he sat fumbling with his fingers. At length his master signed to him:
“I was waiting for him behind the door. He entered and closed it after him. I sprang upon him and nearly choked him. I banged his head against the wall. Then I opened the door and threw him outside.”
“Does your mistress know of this?”