She was apparently about to repeat it for the fourth time, when Rachel suddenly said something inarticulate, and disappeared down the corridor.

This misunderstanding, which involved a complete block in the passage, seemed to her unbearable.

She walked quickly and blindly in the opposite direction, and found herself at the end of a _cul_ _de_ _sac_.

There was a window, and a table and a chair in the window, and upon the table stood a rusty inkstand, an ashtray, an old copy of a French newspaper, and a pen with a broken nib.

Rachel sat down, as if to study the French newspaper, but a tear fell on the blurred French print, raising a soft blot.