Out of Context

Posted late yet right on time

Venus in Furs
Ritter von Leopold Sacher-Masoch (Trans. Fernanda Savage)

A sleepless night; I made countless decisions, only to toss them aside again. In the morning I wrote her a letter in which I declared our relationship dissolved. My hand trembled when I put on the seal, and I burned my fingers.

As I went upstairs to hand it to the maid, my knees threatened to give way.

The door opened, and Wanda thrust forth her head full of curling-papers.

“I haven’t had my hair dressed yet,” she said, smiling. “What have you there?”

“A letter–“

“For me?”

I nodded.

“Ah, you want to break with me,” she exclaimed, mockingly.

“Didn’t you tell me yesterday that I wasn’t the man for you?”