36
ALBERTO MORAVIA
him,
as though on her own, her hands in the pockets of her
coat, her face bent forward and thoughtful. Her new shoes
with their thick soles made her look small and thickset. "Shall
we have some coffee first?" inquired Sergio.
She came close to
him
and placed her arm about his waist
in a somewhat constrained manner. "No," she said; "let's go
home ... But you'll stay
all
night with me, won't you?"
She spoke in a sad voice, almost as
if
she were weeping.
Sergio in tum put his arm round her waist and answered:
"Yes, of course."
"We'll sleep together, and tomorrow morning," she con–
cluded in a tone of entreaty, "you can go away just when you
like ... You can stay in bed until midday if you want to."
They walked through many streets and lanes and then, still
with their arms round one another's waists, carne to the house
where Albina lived and began climbing the stairs. At the first
floor Sergio kissed her on the neck. Albina said nothing.
They reached the little black door of the flat. Albina opened
it with her own key and went forward into the passage. Sergio
followed her, encumbered, as before, by
his
overcoat and
umbrella. Albina opened the door of her room and exclaimed:
"Why, look at that! What are
you
doing here?"
Her voice was full of joy. Sergio looked into the room and
saw, first, the Mexican woman, sitting with an air of ill-humor
on the sofa; and then Luciano, seated at the dressing-table, his
face turned towards the door. Luciano's pose was conventional
and at the same time ill-bred as he sat there with a sceptical,
impudent smile on
his
face, his cigarette held between two
fingers. Sergio felt he could even recollect a similar scene in
some film or other. Irritated, he said to himself: "That's done
it !"-and entered the room.
Albina went straight over to Luciano and took up her
position beside him with her hand on his shoulder, in an attitude
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