By Lida Prypchan
A few days ago he had started the novel but for reasons of urgent business he had stopped reading it. He went by train to his estate. Upon his arrival he gave several orders to his butler and then quietly settled into his study to finish reading his novel, which was in its final chapters. He found himself keenly interested in the plot of this one. He placidly caressed the velvet of the green armchair which he was lying in.
The novel became more interesting as it progressed; it witnessed the final encounter between a woman and her lover. They met in a cabin in the woods. Between them lay branches, dry leaves, and furtive paths. One branch injured the lover, and his blood flowed while the woman kissed him; he responded by pushing her away. For a long time, they had planned the crime against her husband; now they were going to perform it.
It was beginning to get dark. They parted in the woods that surrounded the estate. She would head north and he along the opposite path. He watched her depart with her hair loose. He remembered the woman’s words: “first a blue living room, then a carpeted staircase. At the top, two doors, two rooms, both unoccupied, no-one in them. Then the study with long windows; to the left the green velvet chair and in it the man reading the novel… and the dagger in the hand of the anxious lover”.
