But don’t make me tell ... Oh, you have such a special way of tormenting me ... !’ Hatred, fear and a plea for mercy battled in Basini’s eyes. Involuntarily Törless yielded.

‘I don’t want to torture you. I just want to force you to tell the whole truth yourself. Perhaps in your own interest.’

‘But I haven’t done anything particularly worth telling.’

‘Really? So why did you take your clothes off?’

‘They told me to.’

‘And why did you do what they demanded of you? Are you a coward? A pitiful coward?’

‘No, I’m not a coward! Don’t say that!’

‘Shut your mouth! If it’s their beatings you’re afraid of, let’s see how mine suit you!’

‘It’s not their beatings I’m afraid of.’

‘What are you afraid of, then?’

Törless was speaking calmly again. He was already annoyed by his crude threat. But it had slipped out against his will, just because he thought that Basini was taking more liberties with him than he did with the others.

‘If you’re not frightened, as you say, then what’s wrong with you?’

‘They tell me that if I do what they say everything will be forgiven after a while.’

‘By the two of them?’

‘No, in general.’

‘How can they promise that? You’ve got me to think about as well!’

‘They say they’re going to take care of that.’

That gave Törless a shock. He remembered what Beineberg had said, that Reiting would deal with him just as he had with Basini. And if there really was a plot against him, what could he do to counter it? He was no match for them in that respect, and how far would they be able to go? Would they do what they had done with Basini? ... Everything in him rebelled at the malevolent notion.

Minutes passed between himself and Basini. He knew he lacked the daring and application for that kind of intrigue, but only because it didn’t interest him sufficiently, because he never felt his entire personality was involved. He had always had more to lose than to gain. But if that ceased to be the case, he felt that he would have a quite different kind of toughness and courage. One only had to know when it was time to stake everything one had.

‘Did they go into it in greater detail? About what they had in mind, where I was concerned?’

‘No, they didn’t. They just said they would take care of things.’

And yet ... there was a danger ... hiding somewhere ... lying in wait for Törless ... And with each step he might put his foot in a trap, each night might be the last before battle commenced. There was a terrible uncertainty in that idea. There was no more idle drifting, no more toying with mysterious tales. Things had hard corners now, tangible reality.

The conversation started up again.

‘And what do they do to you?’

Basini said nothing.

‘If you’re serious about making things better, you have to tell me everything.’

‘They make me get undressed.’

‘Yes, yes, I’ve seen that ... and then? ...’

A few moments passed, and suddenly Basini said:

‘Various things.’

He said it with a lascivious, womanly emphasis.

‘So you’re their ... their mistress?’

‘Oh no, I’m their friend!’

‘How can you bring yourself to say that?’

‘They say it themselves.’

‘What ... !’

‘Yes, Reiting.’

‘What do you mean, Reiting?’

‘Yes, he’s very kind to me. Usually I have to get undressed and read him something from history books; about Rome and its emperors, about the Borgias, about Tamberlaine ... well, you know, all those great, bloody affairs. Then he can even be gentle with me.’ ‘And afterwards he usually beats me ...’

‘After what? ... Oh, I see what you mean!’

‘Yes.