Then he got up, hard and full of energy. Gudrun scarcely spoke to him,
except at coffee when she said:
'I shall be leaving tomorrow.'
'We will go together as far as Innsbruck, for appearance's sake?' he
asked.
'Perhaps,' she said.
She said 'Perhaps' between the sips of her coffee. And the sound of her
taking her breath in the word, was nauseous to him. He rose quickly to
be away from her.
He went and made arrangements for the departure on the morrow. Then,
taking some food, he set out for the day on the skis. Perhaps, he said
to the Wirt, he would go up to the Marienhutte, perhaps to the village
below.
To Gudrun this day was full of a promise like spring. She felt an
approaching release, a new fountain of life rising up in her. It gave
her pleasure to dawdle through her packing, it gave her pleasure to dip
into books, to try on her different garments, to look at herself in the
glass. She felt a new lease of life was come upon her, and she was
happy like a child, very attractive and beautiful to everybody, with
her soft, luxuriant figure, and her happiness.
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