“I understand,” said K. “You mean that I should be proud to have won such a reticent girl?” “That’s so,” said she, laughing triumphantly, as if she had established a secret understanding with K. regarding Frieda.
But it was not her actual words that troubled K. and deflected him for a little from his search, but rather her appearance and her presence in this place. Certainly she was much younger than Frieda, almost a child still, and her clothes were ludicrous; she had obviously dressed in accordance with the exaggerated notions which she had of the importance of a barmaid’s position. And these notions were right enough in their way in her, for this position of which she was still incapable had come to her unearned and unexpectedly, and only for the time being; not even the leather reticule which Frieda always wore on her belt had been entrusted to her. And her ostensible dissatisfaction with the position was nothing but showing off. And yet, in spite of her childish mind, she too, apparently, had connections with the Castle; if she was not lying, she had been a chambermaid; without being aware of what she possessed she slept through the days here, and though if he took this tiny, plump, slightly round-backed creature in his arms he could not extort from her what she possessed, yet that could bring him in contact with it and inspirit him for his difficult task. Then could her case now be much the same as Frieda’s? Oh no, it was different. One had only to think of Frieda’s look to know that. K. would never have touched Pepi. All the same he had to lower his eyes for a little now, so greedily was he staring at her.
“It’s against orders for the light to be on,” said Pepi, switching it off again. “I only turned it on because you gave me such a fright. What do you want here really? Did Frieda forget anything?” “Yes,” said K. , pointing to the door, “a table-cover, a white embroidered table-cover, here in the next room.” “Yes, her table-cover,” said Pepi. “I remember it, a pretty piece of work. I helped with it myself, but it can hardly be in that room.” “Frieda thinks it is. Who lives in it, then?” asked K. “Nobody,”