Among all this giving of orders and being waited on K. said, more out of good humour than any hope of being obeyed: “Go away now, you two, I need nothing more for the present, and I want to speak to Fräulein Frieda by herself.” And when he saw no direct opposition on their faces he added by way of excusing them: “We three shall go to the village Superintendent afterwards, so wait downstairs in the bar for me.” Strangely enough they obeyed him, only turning to say before going: “We could wait here.” But K. answered: “I know, but I don’t want you to wait here.”
It annoyed him, however, and yet in a sense pleased him when Frieda, who had settled on his knee as soon as the assistants were gone, said: “What’s your objection to the assistants, darling? We don’t need to have any mysteries before them. They are true friends.” “Oh, true friends,” said K. “they keep spying on me the whole time, it’s nonsensical but abominable.” “I believe I know what you mean,” she said, and she clung to his neck and tried to say something else but could not go on speaking, and since their chair was close to it they reeled over and fell on the bed. There they lay, but not in the forgetfulness of the previous night. She was seeking and he was seeking, they raged and contorted their faces and bored their heads into each other’s bosoms in the urgency of seeking something, and their embraces and their tossing limbs did not avail to make them forget, but only reminded them of what they sought; like dogs desperately tearing up the ground they tore at each other’s bodies, and often, helplessly baffled, in a final effort to attain happiness they nuzzled and tongued each other’s faces. Sheer weariness stilled them at last and brought them gratitude to each other. Then the maids came in, “Look how they’re lying there,” said one, and sympathetically cast a coverlet over them.
When somewhat later K. freed himself from the coverlet and looked round, the two assistants—and he was not surprised at that—were again in their corner, and with a finger jerked towards K. nudged each other to