We heard the steps being dragged against the wall.
“Up with you! … No! … No, I will go up myself, dear!”
“Oh, very well, I will go up. Let me go!”
“Oh, my darling, my darling! … How sweet of you! … How nice of you to save me the exertion at my age! … Tell me what he looks like!”
At that moment, we distinctly heard these words above our heads:
“There is no one there, dear!”
“No one? … Are you sure there is no one?”
“Why, of course not … no one!”
“Well, that’s all right! … What’s the matter, Christine? You’re not going to faint, are you … as there is no one there? … Here … come down … there! … Pull yourself together … as there is no one there! … But how do you like the landscape? ”
“Oh, very much!”
“There, that’s better! … You’re better now, are you not? … That’s all right, you’re better! … No excitement! … And what a funny house, isn’t it, with landscapes like that in it?”
“Yes, it’s like the Musée Grévin. … But, I say, Erik … there are no tortures in there! … What a fright you gave me!”
“Why … as there is no one there?”
“Did you design that room? It’s very handsome. You’re a great artist, Erik.”
“Yes, a great artist, in my own line.”