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We ate on a rose - coloured porch that was open to the sunset . Halfway through dinner the telephone rang inside , and the butler called Tom away . A moment later Daisy threw her napkin on the table and went into the house too . Miss Baker and I looked at each other . I started to speak , but she sat up and said , “ Sh ! ” In the room beyond , we could hear a low , passionate murmur . “ Is something happening ? ” I asked innocently . “ You mean to say you don’t know ? ” said Miss Baker , honestly surprised . “ I thought everybody knew . Tom’s got some woman in New York . ” “ Got some woman ? ” I repeated blankly . “ She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time . Don’t you think ? ” II . The Green Light Before I had understood what she meant , Tom and Daisy were back at the table . “ It couldn’t be helped ! ” cried Daisy with tense gaiety . “ I looked outdoors for a minute , and it’s very romantic outdoors . ” The telephone rang again inside , and Daisy shook her head firmly at Tom . Nobody talked much during the last five minutes at the table . I wanted to look straight at everyone , and at the same time I wanted to avoid all their eyes . My own feeling was that someone ought to call the police . After dinner Tom and Miss Baker went back into the library , while I followed Daisy out to the front porch . We sat down side by side on a wicker sofa in the dark . Daisy took her face in her hands , as if she were feeling its lovely shape . I could see that strong feelings were troubling her , so I asked a few calming questions about her little girl . “ We don’t know each other very well , Nick , ” she said suddenly . “ Even if we are cousins . You didn’t come to my wedding . ” “ I wasn’t back from the war . ” “ That’s true . ” She hesitated . “ Well , I’ve had a very bad time , Nick , and I’m pretty cynical about everything . Listen . Let me tell you what I said when my daughter was born . She was less than an hour old , and Tom was God knows where . I asked the nurse if it was a boy or a girl . She told me it was a girl , and so I turned my head away and cried . ‘ All right , ’ I said , ‘ I’m glad it’s a girl . And I hope she’ll be a fool . That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world , a beautiful little fool . ’ ” Her eyes flashed around her in a proud , angry way , rather like Tom’s . “ You see , I think everything’s terrible anyhow , ” she went on . “ I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything . Sophisticated ! God , I’m sophisticated ! ” As soon as her voice stopped , I felt that she had not really meant what she said . It made me uneasy , as if the whole evening had been a trick to make me feel something . I waited , and soon she looked at me with a little smile on her lovely face , as if she and Tom belonged to some secret club .
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