“Madam, I speak perhaps irritably.⁠ ⁠…”

“Don’t be uneasy. I know myself when to stop you.”

“May I ask you another question, madam?”

“Ask another question.”

“Can one die simply from the generosity of one’s feelings?”

“I don’t know, as I’ve never asked myself such a question.”

“You don’t know! You’ve never asked yourself such a question,” he said with pathetic irony. “Well, if that’s it, if that’s it⁠ ⁠…

“ Be still, despairing heart! ”

And he struck himself furiously on the chest. He was by now walking about the room again.