Since the evening when he saw her incarnate Bérénice on stage, Oskar Serti was stricken with a mad passion for the actress Véronique de Coulanges. For more than one month, day after day, he incessantly addressed her letter upon letter, without, unfortunately, receiving the slightest sign from her.
Then, one morning, when he had just given up all hope of an encounter, Serti received a hurried phone call from Véronique, inviting him to have tea with her. Less than an hour later, his legs quivering with emotion, Serti was holding on feverishly to the hand-railing along the corridor which led to Véronique’s apartment (1). As he could no longer shelter himself behind the sweet and fragile image of a distant Bérénice, Serti suddenly felt paralysed by the idea of finding himself face to face with someone, a being of flesh and blood, of whom he knew absolutely nothing (2).
Little by little however, as his hand slid slowly along the railing whose contours discretely married the wall’s numerous angles, Oskar Serti regained a semblance of self-assurance; he even felt born in him the desire to take Véronique in his arms and entangle her with caresses (3).
Unfortunately, once in front of the door to her apartment, Serti saw his fleeting courage abandon him, and he didn’t find the strength to ring (4).
As a last resort he took refuge in the great staircase which led to the upper floors, letting his hand slide along the railing whose numerous contours gave him the illusion of being able to calm his impossible desire (5).