perhaps she’s soft and kind to you, one might guess that from the photograph. Big strong
girls like that often can’t help being soft and kind. But would she be capable of sacrificing
herself for you?” “No,” said K. “She is neither soft nor kind, nor would she be capable of
sacrificing herself for me. And up till now I have demanded neither the one thing nor the other from her. In fact I’ve never even examined this photograph as carefully as you have.”
“So she doesn’t mean so very much to you,” said Leni. “She isn’t your sweetheart after all.”
“Oh, yes,” replied K. “I refuse to take back my words.” “Well, granted that she’s your
sweetheart,” said Leni, “you wouldn’t miss her very much, all the same, if you were to lose
her or exchange her for someone else, me, for instance?” “Certainly,” said K., smiling,
“that’s conceivable, but she has one great advantage over you, she knows nothing about my
case, and even if she knew she wouldn’t bother her head about it. She wouldn’t try to get
me to be less unyielding.” “That’s no advantage,” said Leni. “If that’s all the advantage she
has over me I shan’t give up hope. Has she any physical defect?” “Any physical defect?”
asked K. “Yes,” said Leni. “For I have a slight one. Look.” She held up her right hand and
stretched out the two middle fingers, between which the connecting web of skin reached
almost to the top joint, short as the fingers were. In the darkness K. could not make out at
once what she wanted to show him, so she took his hand and made him feel it. “What a
freak of nature!” said K. and he added, when he had examined the whole hand: “What a
pretty little paw !” Leni looked on with a kind of pride while K. in astonishment kept
pulling the two fingers apart and then putting them side by side again, until at last he
kissed them lightly and let them go. “Oh !” she cried at once. “You have kissed me !” She
hastily scrambled up until she was kneeling openmouthed on his knees. K. looked up at her
almost dumfounded; now that she was so close to him she gave out a bitter exciting odor
like pepper; she clasped his head to her, bent over him, and bit and kissed him on the neck,
biting into the very hairs of his head. “You have exchanged her for me,” she cried over and
over again. “Look, you have exchanged her for me after all !” Then her knees slipped, with
a faint cry she almost fell on the carpet, K. put his arms round her to hold her up and was
pulled down to her. “You belong to me now,” she said.
“Here’s the key of the door, come whenever you like,” were her last words, and as he
took his leave a final aimless kiss landed on his shoulder. When he stepped out on to the
pavement a light rain was falling; he was making for the middle of the street so as perhaps
to catch a last glimpse of Leni at her window, but a car which was waiting before the
house and which in his distraction he had not even noticed suddenly emitted his uncle, who
seized him by the arms and banged him against the house door as if he wanted to nail him
there. “Joseph!” he cried, “how could you do it! You have damaged your case badly, which
was beginning to go quite well. You hide yourself away with a filthy little trollop, who is
obviously the lawyer’s mistress into the bargain, and stay away for hours. You don’t even
seek any pretext, you conceal nothing, no, you’re quite open, you simply run off to her and
stay beside her. And all this time we three sit there, your uncle, who is doing his best for
you, the lawyer, who has to be won over to your side, above all the Chief Clerk of the
Court, a man of importance, who is actually in charge of your case at its present stage.
There we sit, consulting how to help you, I have to handle the lawyer circumspectly, and