The countess did not keep them waiting long. She entered, dressed in black, with simply a few pearls in her hair.
"But Pan Yosef?" asked she at once.
"He is not coming."
"Why?"
"He is occupied. Building his future."
The countess was wounded by the thought that Yosef would not come.
"But do you not help him in that labor?" asked she.
"May my guardian angel keep me from such work."
"It must be very difficult."
"Like every new building."