I said ‘She’s pretty but g—— d—— dumb!’
“O sacré nom de nom de nom
de nom de nom de nom de nom,
La mademoiselle’s too dumb to come!
Sacré nom de nom de nom
de nom de nom de nom de nom!”
And we marched away in the general direction of home, to the rhythm of that inane ditty that Ben picked up in that terrible city. We must have been a fantastic spectacle!
We finally reached the door that led up to the Captain’s rooms and I looked around for a cab, found one and bundled Ben into it. Then I returned to the doorway to see if Clark was all right. He pulled me into the shadows and asked, “Has he passed out? Is it too late?”
“Are you drunk or sober?” I demanded, wondering if I had misjudged him.
“Sober as a judge,” he replied. “But he doesn’t know it. How about that marriage ceremony?”