Immediately she had gone I went into the other room, and saw the children in a frightened and pitiful state, and there I found myself already inclined to take this first step.

But I was bound by my word.
Again I walked up and down, always smoking.

At breakfast I drank brandy and wine, and I reached the point which I unconsciously desired, the point where I no longer saw the stupidity and baseness of my situation.
"Toward three o'clock she came.

I thought that she was appeased, or admitted her defeat.

I began to tell her that I was provoked by her reproaches.