Sometimes one or the other of her colleagues announced him with a:
"Your husband is waiting for you, Mrs. X."
"Your husband!" There was something scornful in the very way in which
they pronounced the word.
But what irritated him more than anything else was the fact that the
desk nearest to her was occupied by a "young ass" who was always
gazing into her eyes and everlastingly consulting the ledger, bending
over her shoulders so that he almost touched her with his chin.
And they talked of invoices and certificates, of things which might
have meant anything for all he knew. And they compared papers and
figures and seemed to be on more familiar terms with one another than
husband and wife were. And that was quite natural, for she saw more of
the young ass than of her husband. It struck him that their marriage
was not a true spiritual marriage after all; in order to be that he,
too, would have had to be employed in the goods department. But as it
happened he was at the School of Forestry.
One day, or rather one night, she told him that on the following
Saturday a meeting of railway employes, which was to conclude with a
dinner, would be held, and that she would have to be present. Her
husband received the communication with a little air of constraint.
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