Эпоха невинности
Chapter 5
)"Oh,necessarily;Beaufortisavulgarman,"saidMrs.Archer."MygrandfatherNewlandalwaysusedtosaytomymother:’Whateveryoudo,don’tletthatfellowBeaufortbeintroducedtothegirls.’Butatleasthe’shadtheadvantageofassociatingwithgentlemen;inEnglandtoo,theysay.It’sallverymysterious—"SheglancedatJaneyandpaused.SheandJaneykneweveryfoldoftheBeaufortmystery,butinpublicMrs.Archercontinuedtoassumethatthesubjectwasnotonefortheunmarried."ButthisMrs.Struthers,"Mrs.Archercontinued;"whatdidyousaySHEwas,Sillerton?""Outofamine:orratheroutofthesaloonattheheadofthepit.ThenwithLivingWax-Works,touringNewEngland.AfterthepolicebrokeTHATup,theysayshelived—"Mr.JacksoninhisturnglancedatJaney,whoseeyesbegantobulgefromunderherprominentlids.TherewerestillhiatusesforherinMrs.Struthers’spast."Then,"Mr.Jacksoncontinued(andArchersawhewaswonderingwhynoonehadtoldthebutlernevertoslicecucumberswithasteelknife),"thenLemuelStrutherscamealong.Theysayhisadvertiserusedthegirl’sheadfortheshoe-polishposters;herhair’sintenselyblack,youknow—theEgyptianstyle.Anyhow,he—eventually—marriedher."Therewerevolumesofinnuendointhewaythe"eventually"wasspaced,andeachsyllablegivenitsduestress."Oh,well—atthepasswe’vecometonowadays,itdoesn’tmatter,"saidMrs.Archerindifferently.TheladieswerenotreallyinterestedinMrs.Struthersjustthen;thesubjectofEllenOlenskawastoofreshandtooabsorbingtothem.