“But soon the house will fill with their shouting and laughter. What does any of it mean to me? When all human ties are severed, what is left? I have not uttered a single true word in ten years. But now, how desperately I need a confidant. What else is there left for me, but to spill out these words and then drown in them? Oh, Maria, why can’t we sit by the window and talk? Why can’t we open our hearts and souls to each other, as we walk together in silence on a windy autumn evening?”
