had expected: although it was long past the appointed time, he was not
there. At a flower-shop in a big adjoining street, she bought a bunch
of many-coloured roses, and with these in her hands, went straight to
where Schilsky lived.

Mounting to the third floor of the house in the TALSTRASSE, she opened,
without ceremony, the door of his room, which gave direct on the
landing; but so stealthily that the young man, who was sitting with his
back to the door, did not hear her enter. Before he could turn, she had
sprung forward, her arms were round his neck, and the roses under his
nose. He drew his face away from their damp fragrance, but did not look
up, and, without removing his cigarette, asked in a tone of extreme bad
temper: "What are you doing here, Lulu? What nonsense is this? For
God's sake, shut the door!"

She ruffled his hair with her lips. "You didn't come. And the day has
seemed so long."

He tried to free himself, putting the roses aside with one hand, while,
with his cigarette, he pointed to the sheets of music-paper that lay
before him. "For a very good reason. I've had no time."

She went back and closed the door; and then, sitting down on his knee,
unpinned her big hat, and threw it and the roses on the bed. He put his
arm round her to steady her, and as soon as he held her to him, his
ill-temper was vanquished. He talked volubly of the instrumentation he
was busy with. But she, who could point out almost every fresh note he
put on paper, saw plainly that he had not been at work for more than a
quarter of an hour; and, in a miserable swell of doubt and jealousy,
such as she could never subdue, she asked:

"Were you practising as well?"

He took no notice of these words, and she did not trust herself to say
more, until, with his free hand, he began jotting again, making notes
that were no bigger than pin-heads. Then she laid her hand on his. "I
haven't seen you all day."

But he was too engrossed to listen. "Look here," he said pointing to a
thick-sown bar. "That gave me the deuce of a bother. While here "--and
now he explained to her, in detail, the properties of the tenor-tuba in
B, and the bass-tuba in F, and the use to which he intended to put
these instruments. She heard him with lowered eyes, lightly caressing
the back of his hand with her finger-tips. But when he ceased speaking,
she rubbed her cheek against his.

"It is enough for to-day. Lulu has been lonely."

Not one of his thoughts