Page 133 - the-trial

that she was so close to him there was a bitter, irritating
smell from her, like pepper, she grasped his head, leant out
over him, and bit and kissed his neck, even biting into his
hair. “I’ve taken her place!” she exclaimed from time to
time. “Just look, now you’ve taken me instead of her!” Just
then, her knee slipped out and, with a little cry, she nearly
fell down onto the carpet, K. tried to hold her by putting his
arms around her and was pulled down with her. “Now
you’re mine,” she said. Her last words to him as he left were,
“Here’s the key to the door, come whenever you want”, and
she planted an undirected kiss on his back. When he stepped
out the front door there was a light rain falling, he was about
to go to the middle of the street to see if he could still glimpse
Leni at the window when K.’s uncle leapt out of a car that K.,
thinking of other things, had not seen waiting outside the
building. He took hold of K. by both arms and shoved him
against the door as if he wanted to nail him to it. “Young
man,” he shouted, “how could you do a thing like that?!
Things were going well with this business of yours, now
you’ve caused it terrible damage. You slope of with some
dirty, little thing who, moreover, is obviously the lawyer’s
beloved, and stay away for hours. You don’t even try to find
an excuse, don’t try to hide anything, no, you’re quite open
about it, you run off with her and stay there. And mean-
while we’re sitting there, your uncle who’s going to such
effort for you, the lawyer who needs to be won over to your
side, and above all the office director, a very important gen-
tleman who is in direct command of your affair in its present
stage. We wanted to discuss how best to help you, I had to

1 The Trial