What he fears more than anything else is that she would simply change her mind if he does not act quickly. Life, for the past month, has been like a restless dream. They have not seen each other for six dreadful days already. His mind and body seem to be afflicted with an unbearable sensitivity, a sort of transparency, which makes every movement, every sound, every contact, every word that he has to speak or listen to, an agony. Even in sleep he cannot altogether escape from her image.