CHAPTER TEN
EVERY TIME FLORIS CAME INTO THE SHOP WITHOUT
stopping to wipe his feet, Frans looked up at him,
alarmed, until he had gone up the steps and slammed
the glass door behind him. Sometimes a customer,
standing there, would say : e Your nephew should
be careful he doesn't break the glass.5 Neither
of the brothers answered. Gerbrand Werendonk
wearily tied up the parcels, and polished the
measures, slowly, carefully, and behind the other
counter Frans did the same, his eyes cast down,
equally silent. He had noticed the expression of
indifference on the pursed lips, foreboding the rude
answers that would be heard presently in the parlour.
He dawdled purposely, in order to stay longer in the
shop, for the silence when they were together oppressed
him, as though at any moment something terrible
might happen. He could have told them it was a
mistake to warn the girl; after all, it had grieved
the boy, and it was only to be expected that it should
have exasperated him. He had spoken to his brother
about it, but the reply had been that he must
remember the path of virtue was not strewn with
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