More couples swarmed onto the floor after the show Subdebs, in Sunday-night dresses from Powell’s, dancing with collegiate-looking young men, business girls out with friends of the boss, two well-known movie actresses who attracted far less attention than a plain, brown-haired girl who was rumored to be the girl friend of a powerful union head.
马龙看着坐在他旁边的卢埃拉·怀特，心里琢磨着她。
Malone looked at Louella White, sitting next him, and wondered about her.
“你原本是芝加哥人吗？”
“Are you from Chicago originally?”
“不是。从东部来。”
“No. From the East.”
马龙断定，几杯酒下肚让她变得非常健谈。也许他可以利用这一点。
A few drinks, Malone decided, had made her downright talkative. Maybe he could take advantage of it.
“东部的什么地方？”
“What part of the East?”
“泽西城。”
“Jersey City.”
他换了个方式问。“你觉得芝加哥怎么样？”
He tried another approach. “How do you like Chicago?”
“还行。”
“All right.”
“我想这里和东方很不一样。”
“I suppose it’s very different from the Orient.”
“是的。”
“Yes.”
突然他说：“我打赌你这辈子从没去过东方。”
Suddenly he said, “I bet you never were in the Orient in your life.”
她冷冷地看着他，“那又怎样？”
She looked at him coldly, “So what?”
该死，他想，你甚至都不能让这个女人震惊一下。“你是文宁夫人的亲戚吗？”
Damn it, he thought, you couldn’t even jolt the woman. “Are you a relative of Mrs. Venning?”
“不是。”
“No.”
“是文宁先生的亲戚吗？”
“Of Mr. Venning?”
“不是。”
“No.”
他叹了口气。“好吧。那我们反过来。你提问，我来想答案。”
He sighed. “All right. Let’s reverse. You ask the questions and I’ll think of the answers.”
她把她那双警惕的小眼睛转向他，说了她有生以来最长的一段话。“你为什么要问问题？”
She turned her small, guarded eyes on him and made the longest speech of her career. “What do you want to ask questions for?”
“我在写一本书。”马龙说，然后决定去看舞池。
“I’m writing a book,” Malone said, and decided to watch the dance floor.
五分钟后，经理来了，为彭德利·泰德韦尔和保镖之间的一点小麻烦道歉。在歌舞女郎的更衣室里拍照似乎是违反规定的。
Five minutes later the manager arrived, apologizing for a little trouble Pendley Tidewell had had with the bouncer. It seemed to be against the rules to try to take photographs in the chorus girls’ dressing room.
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