A pale blue towel wrapped her naked body like a swaddle on a newborn baby. She took a much longer shower than she could remember, the longest one of her life. The passion of the hot running water seemed to give her intellectual vitality, but only by degrees, and eventually she was somewhat revitalized.
One hour and a half had passed. The water that had run all over her body had slipped into the sewer. She went downstairs in a long black woolen coat, with a light linen bag, without combing or drying her hair. Some still dripped, and cast a shade over her puffy eyes. And the drips spattered on the marble, which refl ected pale light in many shapes of many white-haired fi gures.