I had resolved to finish the journey in a train, and to put my recalcitrant machine in the goods station. The future should decide about its fate. For the moment I put it in the garage amongst the phaëtons, buggies and limousines, but I hastily withdrew, knowing that behind me, the round eyes of its head-lamps were shining with a treacherous look.
As I reflected on all the ins and outs of this astonishing phenomenon, and as I moved away, a phrase in a scientific article which I had once read, and which had struck me, came into my mind, and I was not a little surprised at finding in those words a vague explanation of the marvel, and the promise of happenings no less astonishing.
“It is possible to imagine that there exists an intermediate link between living creatures and inert matter, just as there exist links between animals and vegetables.”
The Hotel had all the outward signs of luxurious comfort. A lift took me up, and I was taken to our room.
My partner had preceded me. After being a prisoner for so long, she was looking with a sort of eagerness at the street, the people moving about, and the shops, whose glories were being lit up.
Emma could not tear herself away from the spectacle of life, and as she dressed, she turned continually to the window, drawing aside the curtains to behold the spectacle again.
I thought I perceived that she was less affectionate towards me.
My strange conduct in the car had not failed to surprise her. As I had made up my mind not to give any explanation, I had no doubt that she regarded me as a lunatic, hardly cured of his madness.
At dinner, which we took at little private tables lit up by candles, whose soft light was that of a boudoir, Emma, surrounded by men in evening dress, and women in low-necked frocks, made herself conspicuous by her aggressive behavior which was quite out of place. She ogled the men, and looked with a sneer at the women—sometimes admiring and sometimes contemptuous—speaking her approval in a loud voice, and laughing ostentatiously—which caused amusement and astonishment all round us—in the most ridiculous and delicious manner.