TE17 Mysterious Montenegro

up to the second floor and into the apartment, it was well- appointed with two armchairs and a chaise longue, the walls in yellow damask, and I thought to myself, it’s a little untidy but not dirty, I won’t be wearing myself out, so why did he bring me here at all, but he said I didn’t have to do any work there but in his house in the country, now he had to go and purchase some things, and I should wait for him for about an hour until he came back, and I waited for him like I promised, I looked out the window fromtime to time, Paris in themorning looks evenmore beautiful fromabove, I dreamed of that back in Strasbourg, the hour passed quickly, and then he appeared at the door, still holding the muff in his hand, Everything’s prepared, the coach is downstairs, he said, so we went down quickly, the coach was waiting for us near the entrance, the coachman had a hat jammed on his head and something of a squinting look, when we got in I heard the whip crack and the horse started off with a jolt, I thought I’d be able to look out at the city streets as long as the trip lasted, and later at the landscape, I had little opportunity to see the sights, when life is hard you don’t have time for anything, but as soon as we set off he closed the wooden shutters on the windows, so we were in pitch darkness, I could only hear the hooves and the occasional swishing of the whip, the coachman was in quite a hurry, then the gentleman leaned over toward me and asked, Do you know where we’re going? and I said, How should I know, I only need to clean your house and nothing more, perhaps he liked my reply because he then leaned back in his seat and fell completely silent, I couldn’t see his face very well while we were travelling, only now and then, when a ray of sun stabbed through the shutters, did I notice that his head had drooped to his right shoulder, as if he was sleeping, but once or twice I saw that his eyes were open and looking at me furtively, I tried to go to sleep as well, especially 103 Arceuil