retiring or shameless doesn’t matter⁠—I don’t want to hear any more about her.” “But why do you call her retiring?” asked Frieda obdurately⁠— K. considered this interest of hers a favourable sign, “have you found her so, or are you simply casting a reflection on somebody else?” “Neither the one nor the other,” said K. , “I call her that out of gratitude, because she makes it easy for me to ignore her, and because if she said even a word or two to me I couldn’t bring myself to go back again, which would be a great loss to me, for I must go there for the sake of both our futures, as you know. And it’s simply for that reason that I have to talk with the other girl, whom I respect, I must admit, for her capability, prudence and unselfishness, but whom nobody could say was seductive.” “The servants are of a different opinion,” said Frieda. “On that as on lots of other subjects,” said K. “Are you going to deduce my unfaithfulness from the tastes of the servants?” Frieda remained silent and suffered K. to take the tray from her, set it on the floor, put his arm through hers, and walk her slowly up and down in the corner of the passage. “You don’t know what fidelity is,” she said, his nearness putting her a little in the defensive, “what your relations with the girl may be isn’t the most important point; the fact that you go to that house at all and come back with the smell of their kitchen on your clothes is itself an unendurable humiliation for me. And then you rush out of the school without saying a word. And stay with them, too, the half of the night. And when you’re asked for, you let those girls deny that you’re there, deny it passionately, especially the wonderfully retiring one. And creep out of the house by a secret way, perhaps actually to save the good name of the girls, the good name of those girls! No, don’t let us talk about it any more.” “Yes, don’t let us talk of this,” said K. , “but of something else, Frieda. Besides, there’s nothing more to be said about it. You know why I have to go there. It isn’t easy for me, but I overcome my feelings. You shouldn’t make it any harder for me than it is. Tonight I only thought of dropping in there for a minute to see whether Barnabas had come at last, for he had an important message which he should have