Quickly boring into me: “What are you here for?”
I seized him.
“Quickly! Please! Quickly! … into your office. … I must tell everything … right away. … I am glad that you. … It may be terrible that it should be you to whom. … But it is well, it is well. …”
He too, knew her ; this made it even more tormenting for me. But perhaps he too, would tremble when he should hear. … And we would both be killing. … And I would not be alone at that, my supreme second. …
The door closed with a slam. I remember a piece of paper was caught beneath the door and it rustled on the floor when the door closed. And then a strange airless silence covered us as if a glass bell were put over us. If only he had uttered a single, most insignificant word, no matter what, I should have told him everything at once. But he was silent. So keyed up that I heard a noise in my ears, I said without looking at him:
“I think I always hated her from the very beginning. … I struggled. … Or, no, no, don’t believe me; I could have but I did not want to save myself; I wanted to perish; this was dearer to me than anything else … and even now, even this minute, when I know already everything. … Do you know that I was summoned to the Well-Doer?”
“Yes, I do.”
“But what he told me! Please realize that it was equivalent to … it was as if someone should remove the floor from under you this minute, and you and all here on the desk, the papers, the ink … the ink would splash out and cover everything with blots. …”
“What else? What further? Hurry up, others are waiting!”