"Ah, here we are near your hotel, I see!" exclaimed Emil; and, as if he had completely forgotten his wish to go for a drive with her before leaving her at her door, he called out the name of the hotel to the driver. "Emil--" "Well, dearest?" "Do you still love me?" Instead of answering he pressed her close to him and kissed her on the lips. "Tell me, Emil--" "Tell you what?" "But I know you don't like anybody to ask much of you." "Never mind, my child, ask anything you like." "What will you.... Tell me, what are you accustomed to do with your forenoons?" "Oh, I spend them in all sorts of ways. To-morrow, for instance, I am playing the violin solo in Haydn's Mass in the Lerchenfeld Church." "Really? Then, of course, I won't have to wait any longer than to-morrow morning before I can hear you." "If you want to. But it is really not worth the trouble.... That is to say, the Mass itself, of course, is very beautiful." "However does it happen that you are going to play in the Lerchenfeld Church?" "It is ... an act of kindness on my part." "For whom?" "For whom ... well, for Haydn, of course." A thrill of pain seemed to seize Bertha. At that moment she felt that there must be some special connexion between it and his taking part in the Mass at the Lerchenfeld Church. Perhaps some woman was singing in the Mass, who.... Ah, what did she know, after all?... But she would go to the church, yes, she must go ... she could let no other woman have Emil! He belonged to her, to her alone ... he had told her so, indeed.... And she would find a way to hold him fast... She had, she told herself, such infinite tenderness for him ... she had reserved all her love for him alone.... She would completely envelop him in it ... no more would he yearn for any other woman.... She would move to Vienna, be with him each day, be with him for ever. "Emil--" "Well, what is the matter with you, darling?" He turned towards her and looked at her rather uneasily. "Do you love me? Good Heavens, here we are already!" "Really?" said Emil, with surprise. "Yes--there, do you see?--that's where I am staying. So tell me, please, Emil, tell me once more--" "Yes, to-morrow at five o'clock, my darling. I am very glad." "No, not that.... Tell me, do you--" The carriage stopped. Emil waited by Bertha's side until the porter came out and opened the door, then he kissed her hand with the most ceremonious politeness, and said: "Good-bye till we meet again, dear lady." He drove away. Bertha's sleep that night was sound and heavy.