Chapter 4 Chapter Four

George Lomax went straight back to White House Street.As he entered the luxurious apartment, he could immediately hear a rush of footsteps.This is where he often handles state affairs.Bill Eversley was diligently filing letters—one by one.However, there is still the body temperature left by the people who have sat on a large sofa chair by the window. Bill Eversley, was a pleasant young man, about twenty-five, I venture to guess.It is large in size and somewhat clumsy in movement.He had a pleasant ugly face, with straight white teeth and sincere brown eyes. "Has Richardson delivered the report?"

"Not yet, sir. Shall I ask him?" "It's okay. Any phone calls? Anything left?" "Most of them are from Miss Oscar. Mr. Ershastein asked if you could have lunch with him tomorrow at the Savoy." "Ask Miss Oscar to look up my appointment book. If there is no appointment at that time, tell her to call him and say yes." "Yes, sir." "Call me up, Eversley. Check the phone book and call Mrs. Redford, 487 Bond Street." "Yes, sir." Bill picked up the phone book, looked down the column without seeing it, and then closed the phone book with a bang and turned to the telephone on the desk.He put his hand on the phone receiver, hesitated for a moment, as if suddenly remembered.

"Ah, sir, I just remembered. Her line is down. I meant Mrs. Redford. I just called." George Lomax frowned. "Hateful," he said. "What a nuisance." He tapped the table hesitantly. "Sir, if there's anything important to do, maybe I can take a taxi. She must be home at this time of the morning." "George Lomax hesitated a moment to consider. Bill waited hopefully, ready to set off at once if the answer was yes. "Perhaps that's the best way," said Romax at last. "All right, then. You take a taxi. Ask Mrs. Redford if she's home at four o'clock this afternoon. Because I have something very important to talk to her about."

"Okay, sir." Bill grabbed his hat and left. Ten minutes later a taxi took him to 487 Bond Street.He rang the doorbell, and at the same time knocked heavily on the knocker.The door was opened by a stern-faced servant.Since Bill had known him for a long time, he nodded to him calmly. "Morning, Chivers, is Mrs. Rivers in?" "Sir, I think she's getting ready to go out." "Is that you, Bill?" a voice from above the banister called to him. "I knew it was you when I heard that loud knock on the door. Come up." Bill looked up at the smiling, looking down face.As soon as he saw that face—and he wasn't alone—he became like a toddler, slurring his words.He ran up two steps at a time and held Virginia's outstretched hand tightly.

"Hello, Virginia!" "Hello, Bill!" Yuli is a very strange thing.Thousands and hundreds of young women, some more beautiful than Virginia Redford, said "Hello, Bill" to him in exactly the same tone, but it produced no special effect.But those simple words uttered by Virginia had an intoxicating effect on Bill. Virginia was just twenty-seven years old.Tall, slender--indeed, her slenderness alone would have made a poem--and perfectly proportioned.Her hair was a true bronze, with a greenish tinge to the gold.She has a determined chin and a lovely nose.She has a pair of eager blue eyes.The half-opened eyelids revealed dark daisy-colored, sparkling pupils.She also has a wonderful, indescribable mouth, with one place slightly turned up, showing what is known as the "Venus feature".

It was an expressive face.She has a radiant, energetic air that always commands attention.It would be extremely impossible to ignore Virginia Redford. She took Bill into the little living room, which was all furnished in lavender and green and yellow.It was as if some saffron had been accidentally found in the meadow. "Bill, dear," Virginia said, "the Foreign Office are missing you right now? I thought they couldn't do anything without you." "I bring you a message from Kedes." Bill called his boss that disrespectful. "By the way, Virginia. If he asks, remember to tell him your phone was out of order this morning."

"But no." "I know that. But I told him there was a malfunction." "Why? Explain to me your diplomatic rhetoric." Bill reproached him for looking at her: "Of course that's why I'm here to see you!" "Oh, my dear Bill, how stupid I am! How kind of you!" "Chivers said you were going out." "I'm going out. To Sloane Street. There's a place there that's got a new kind of good hip hoop." "Hip hoops?" "Yeah, Bill, butt-hoops. A sort of croup that tightens the hips." "I blush for you, Virginia. You shouldn't describe your underpants to a young man not related to you. It's indecent."

"But, my dear Bill, there's nothing indecent about a hip. We all have hips—but we poor women try to pretend we don't. They're red rubber bands that go up to the knees. More than that. You can't walk in it." "How sad!" said Bill. "Why are you using it?" "Ah, because it makes it feel great for a woman to suffer for her body contours. Let's not talk about my hip bands right now, though. Tell me what George wants you to say. " "He asked if you were home at four o'clock this afternoon." "I'm not at home. I'm going to Lanella. Why this serious visit? Is he going to propose to me? Do you think he will?"

"It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that he did that." "Because, if so, you can tell him that I prefer men who propose to me out of passion." "like me?" "You are not impulsive. You are habitual." "Virginia, don't you—" "No, no, no, Bill, I don't want to talk about it until lunch. You've got to treat me like a motherly man approaching middle age. She will remember her love for you. " "Virginia, I really love you." "I know, Bill, I know. Besides, I just like being loved. Am I being so bad and terrible?I love having every good man in the world love me. "

"I guess everybody loves you," Bill said despondently. "But I hope George doesn't love me. I don't think he can. He loves his business already. What else does he say?" "Just saying that what he wants to talk to you about is very important." "Bill, I'm getting interested in this thing. George thinks there's a very limited number of important things. I think I'll have to give up my plan to go to Lanera. I could go any day anyway. Tell George I'll be there at four o'clock." I will obediently wait here for you.” Bill looked at his watch.

"It's so hard to come out, it's not worth it to go back before lunch. Virginia, go out and have a toothpaste." "I'm going to find a place for lunch." "That's all right. Go out to lunch with me today and drop all other plans." "That's good," Virginia said to him, smiling. "Virginia, it's very kind of you. Tell me, you do like me a little, don't you? More than anyone else, don't you?" "Bill, I like you very much. If I had to marry--just had to--I mean, as if in a book, a very bad bureaucrat said to me: 'You're going to marry a man, or I'll torture you slowly.'—then I'd really have to marry. I said, 'Give me little Bill, then.'" "Then—" "Yes, but I don't have to marry yet. I like being a bad widow." "You can still hang out with other men the same way, and hang around, and you can hardly notice that I'm still in the house." "Bill, you don't know me. I'm one of those people who, if we get married, would be hot." Bill snorted heavily. "I thought, one day, I'm going to kill myself," he whispered dejectedly. "No, you won't, Bill dear. You'll take a pretty girl out to dinner like you did the night before." Mr. Eversley felt confused for a moment. "If you mean Dorothy Cpatrick, the girl at the 'Hook and Loop Shop,' I—why, she's a nice girl, and they keep her in good order. Go with her There's no harm in going out any more than" "Dear Bill, of course there's no harm. I like that you can have a good time. But, don't pretend to be heartbroken and nothing else. " Mr. Eversley regained his self-respect. "You don't know anything, Virginia," he said sternly. "Men" Men like polygamy!I know they are.Sometimes I have a strong feeling that I like to be monogamous for how long.Bill, if you really love me, take me out to lunch quickly. "