er lonely, more terribly alone than before. The
simplicity of this meeting stirred me profoundly. Yet there had been
no one there but a human being, a human being like myself. Then there
is nothing sweeter and stronger than to approach a human being, whoever
that human being may be.

This woman entered into my intimate life and took a place in my heart.
How? Why? I did not know. But what importance she assumed! Not of
herself. I did not know her, and I did not care to know her. She
assumed importance by the sole value of the momentary revelation of her
existence, by the example she gave, by the wake of her actual presence,
by the true sound of her steps.

It seemed to me as if the supernatural dream I had had a short while
before had been granted, and that what I called the infinite had come.
What that woman, without knowing it, had given me by showing me her
naked kiss--was it not the crowning beauty the reflection of which
covers you with glory?

. . . . .

The dinner bell rang.

This summons to everyday reality and one's usual occupations changed
the course of my thoughts for the moment. I got ready to go down to
dinner. I put on a gay waistcoat and a dark coat, and I stuck a pearl
in my cravat. Then I stood still and listened, hoping to hear a
footstep or a voice.

While doing these conventional things, I continued to be obsessed by
the great event that had happened--this apparition.

I went downstairs and joined the rest of my fellow-boarders in the
brown and gold dining-room. There was a general stir and bustle and
the usual empty interest before a meal. A number of people seated
themselves with the good manners of polite society. Smiles, the sound
of chairs being drawn up to the table, words thrown out, conversations
started. Then the concert of plates and dishes began and grew steadily
louder.

My neighbours talked to those beside them. I heard their murmur, which
accentuated my aloneness. I lifted my eyes. In front of me a shining
row of foreheads, eyes, collars, shirtfronts, waists, and busy hands
above a table of glistening whiteness. All these things attracted my
attention and distracted it at the same time.

I did not know what these people were thinking about. I did not know
who they were. They hid themselves from one another. Their shining
fronts made a wall against which I dashed in vain.

Bracelets, necklaces, rings. The sparkling of the jewels made me feel
far away