CHAPTER 34

man there." 

She pointed suddenly at me, and everyone looked at me accusingly. I tried to show by my expression that I had played no part in her past. 

"The only CRAZY I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed someone's best suit to get married in and didn't even tell me about it. The

man came after it one day when he was out. 'Oh, is that your suit?' I said. 'This is the first I've heard about it.' But I gave it to him and then lay down and cried all afternoon." 

"She really ought to leave him," resumed Catherine to me. "They've been living above that garage for eleven years. And Tom is the first man she's ever had." 

The bottle of whiskey—a second one—was now in constant demand from everyone

present, except for Catherine, who "felt just as good on nothing at all." Max called for the janitor and ordered some celebrated sandwiches, which were a complete meal on

their own. I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but every time I tried to leave, I became entangled in some loud argument that

pulled me back into my chair. Yet high above the city, our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrets to the casual observer in the darkening

streets, and I was both within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the endless variety of life. 

Sophie pulled her chair close to mine and suddenly shared with me the story of her first meeting with Tom. 

"It was on the two small seats facing each other that are always the last ones left on the train. I was going up to New York to see my sister and spend the night. He was

wearing a dress suit and patent leather shoes, and I couldn't take my eyes off him. But every time he looked at