Many times he would prolong the talks beyond the expected limit and let them drift into comments of a domestic nature.

glacial exhalation.

The air was so damp that fish could have come in through the doors and swum out the windows, floating through the atmosphere in the rooms.

But curiosity was greater than fear,

It was a thick night, starless, but the darkness was becoming impregnated with a fresh and clear air.

She had to make a great effort not to throw at them their prissiness, their poverty of spirit, their delusions of grandeur.

tribulation,

That tardy shudder which had not figured in his forethought made his breakfast bitter.

Nevertheless, the rancor disappeared much sooner than she herself had expected, and then she continued sending the food out of pride and finally out of compassion.