But last night, although nearly midnight, sleep was slow in coming. He kissed my lips. Suddenly a strange will broke in me.... What instinct was I obeying?... Then a violent repulsion. I knitted my brows. Ah, I detested him....
That night it was I who wide-eyed and curious watched him fall asleep.
IV
There was one second above all....
If I had had the time to think, I should have thought that this second was worth the whole of life, the whole of death, and even more than life.
V
The nights are links in a chain. Previously life consisted of day and night; white, black; black, white. Since then life goes on unbrokenly.
VI
This morning when I caught a reflection of myself in the shop windows, I noticed I had a strange air of authority, a self-assurance quite new and indefinable, a manner crisper, more clear-cut. When I purchased my provisions I had the courage to haggle, and the market-women treated me as an equal.