Free The Black Obelisk by Erich Maria Remarque Page B

satisfaction I drink to Riesenfeld, who responds formally.
    Willy turns up. That was to be expected; he is a regular patron of the place. Aufstein and his friends leave, and Willy sits down at the table next to ours. Almost immediately he gets up to greet Renée de la Tour. With her is a pretty girl in a black evening dress. After a while I recognize her as the acrobat. Willy introduces us. Her name is Gerda Schneider. She throws an appraising glance at the champagne and at us three. We watch to see whether Riesenfeld will catch fire; then we'd be rid of him for the evening. But Riesenfeld is committed to Lisa. 'Do you think I could invite her to dance?" he asks Georg.
    "I wouldn't advise you to just now," Georg replies diplomatically. "But perhaps we'll meet her later in the evening."
    He looks at me reproachfully. If I had not said in the office that we did not know Lisa, everything would be simple. But who could have guessed Riesenfeld would turn romantic? Now it is too late to explain. Romantics have no sense of humor.
    "Don't you dance?" the acrobat asks me.
    "Badly. I have no sense of rhythm."
    "Nor have I. Let's try it together."
    We wedge our way into the mass on the dance floor and are slowly pushed forward. "Three men without women in a night club," Gerda says. "Why?"
    "Why not? My friend Georg maintains that anyone who takes a woman into a night club is inviting her to put horns on his head."
    "Who is your friend Georg? The one with the big nose?"
    "The one with the bald head. He is a believer in the harem system. Women should not be exhibited, he says."
    "Of course," Gerda replies. "And you?"
    "I haven't any system.' I'm just chaff in the wind."
    "Don't step on my feet," Gerda says. "You're not chaff at all. You weigh at least one fifty."
    I pull myself together. We are just being pushed past Erna's table, and this time, thank God, she recognizes me although her head is resting on the shoulder of the profiteer with the seal ring and his arm is around her waist. How can I watch at such a moment? I smile sweetly down at Gerda and pull her closer to me, keeping an eye on Erna the while.
    Gerda smells of lily of the valley. "Oh, let go of me!" she says.  "This won't get you anywhere with that redhead. That's what you're trying for, isn't it?"
    "No," I lie.
    "You oughtn't to have noticed her at all. But you had to keep on staring over at her and then you suddenly start this ridiculous comedy with me. What a beginner you are!"
    I still try to keep the false smile on my face; the last thing I want is for Erna to notice what's going on. "I didn't arrange this," I say lamely. "I didn't want to dance."
    Gerda pushes me away. "Evidently you're a cavalier as well. Let's stop. My feet hurt."
    I wonder whether to explain that I did not mean it that way; but who knows what would come of it? Instead I keep my mouth shut and follow her back to the table, head high, but plunged in shame....
    Meanwhile, the alcohol has taken effect. Georg and Riesen-feld are calling each other du . Riesenfeld's first name is Alex. In another hour at most he will invite me, too, to call him du . Tomorrow morning, of course, it will all be forgotten.
    I sit there rather dejected, waiting for Riesenfeld to get tired. The dancers drift past, borne by the music on a lazy current of noise, bodily proximity, and herd instinct. Erna, too, comes by, provocatively ignoring me. Gerda jabs me in the ribs. "Her hair is dyed," she says, and I have the sickening feeling that she is trying to comfort me.
    I nod and become aware that I have had enough to drink. Finally Riesenfeld shouts for the waiter. Lisa has left; now he wants to go too.
    It takes a while before we are finished. Riesenfeld actually pays for the champagne; I'd expected that we would be stuck with the four bottles he has ordered. We say good-by to Willy, Renée de la Tour, and Gerda Schneider. The place is closing anyway; the musicians are putting away their instruments. Everyone crowds around the