“But you’d rather not work at all.”
“That’s right.”
“Well, you’ll probably be married soon.” This was a leading question. There was a simple ritual to conversation with pretty girls who might be had.
She recognized this and answered according to the ritual, “Oh, maybe someday, when I meet the right person.”
This could mean a lot. He was interested now. “That’s important, meeting the right person.”
They were both silent, thinking how important it was to meet the right person.
Trebling began to think of this girl (was her name Caroline?) quite seriously. It was such an important thing to discover: if she could be had or not. For one night she might be very pleasant. He liked the way she looked. But then he thought of certain other one-night stands and of the phone calls and letters and emotion that often came of them. He would be very careful about this. He resumed.
“I suppose you can have a pretty good time in New York if you know the right places to go.”
“Yes, there are some nice places. You have to be very careful, though.”
“A lot of them are clip joints, I guess.”