thought, but everyone said she was wonderful, especially the men too drunk to know the difference.
A fat, untidy woman in a gold turban and no brassiere waved a long cigarette holder. "You are a true meeting of East and West. What Picasso has done in his African period."
"You mean I got a little nigger in me?" Lucy asked, laughing. "Guess I have because I love jazz. But I'm actually a ballet dancer. And I take it seriously," she explained, so as not to give the queer woman and others standing around the wrong impression.
"Oh, a ballerina! Isadora Duncan is an intimate friend of mine. I'm Mary Doyle. You must come to dinner sometime soon and meet Kevin. My husband, you know, the critic."
"I've never done barefoot dancing," Lucy said lamely, awed at proximity to such fame. This was how she thought New York would be, except that the women didn't look as beautiful as the photographs in Mode, but then that probably was because they were drunk.
Lyle was sulky in the limousine. Lucy looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. Me didn't have a good time so I'll give him a nice kiss to make him feel better when I get home, that's if he behaves. I wish I were with Carly.
"Brush your teeth, dear, and drink this hot milk. I'm glad you had such a nice time," Mae said.
In bed, a silk stocking bandaging her eyes to help her sleep, she re-created the evening for Mae.
"Those men certainly know how to make you feel important. I guess the women thought I didn't belong there. Only one talked to me, a sloppy fatty who wore a gold turban and a lot of junk that looked like stage jewelry. She invited me to come and see her and her husband, a critic. I think she's someone important. All the women wore a lot of jewelry, but to tell you the truth I can't tell it from rhinestones and colored glass. I never heard any last names. Everyone had nicknames. 'Quirky'—'Coucou'—'Pet'—you never heard so many Pets!"
She thought of Carly, but he was her secret to think of alone. After the dance she had been the center of a huddle of men who said she was the cat's pajamas and where had she been keeping herself, but they had to give way to a Senator from Washington, D.C.,
