hundred a month."
"And she wasn't working."
"No."
"Did you wonder where her money came from?"
"Not for a while. I gradually managed to realize that she never seemed to have to go to the office, and when I said something, she admitted she was between jobs at the moment. She said she had enough money so that she didn't care if she didn't find anything for a month or two. What I didn't realize was that she wasn't even looking for work. I would come home from my own job, and she would say something about employment agencies and job interviews, and I would have no way of knowing that she hadn't even been looking."
"Was she a prostitute at the time?"
"I don't know if you would call it that."
"How do you mean?"
"She was taking money from men. I guess she had been doing that for as long as she was in the apartment. But I don't know if she was exactly a prostitute."
"How did you first figure out what was going on?"
She picked up her drink and took another sip of it. She put the glass down and worried her forehead with her fingertips. "It was gradual," she said.
I waited.
"She was dating a lot. Older men, but that didn't surprise me. And usually, uh, well, she and her date would go to bed." She lowered her eyes. "I wasn't snooping, but it was impossible not to notice this.
The apartment, she had the bedroom and I had the living room, there was a convertible sofa in the living room-"
"I've seen the apartment."
"Then you know the layout. You have to go through the living room to get into the bedroom, so if I was home, she would bring her date through my room and into the bedroom, and they would be in there for half an hour or an hour, and then either Wendy would walk him to the door or he would go out by himself."
"Did this bother you?"
"That she was having sex with them? No, it didn't bother me. Why would it bother me?"
"I don't know."
"One of the reasons I moved out of Evangeline House was to live like an adult. I wasn't a virgin myself. And the fact that Wendy brought men to the apartment meant I could feel free to bring men home myself if I wanted to."
"Did you?"
She colored. "I wasn't seeing anyone special at the time."
"So you knew Wendy was promiscuous, but you didn't know she was taking money."
"Not at the time, no."
"She was seeing a great many different men?"
"I don't know. I saw the same men over again on several occasions, especially at first. A lot of the time I didn't meet the men she was with. I spent a lot of the time away from the apartment. Or I would come home when she was already in the bedroom with someone, and I might go out for a drink or something and come back after he had left."
I studied her, and she averted her eyes. I said, "You suspected something almost from the beginning, didn't you?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"There was something about the men."
"I suppose so."
"What was it? What were the men like?"
"Older, of course, but that didn't surprise me. Also, they were all well dressed. They looked like, oh, I don't know. Businessmen, lawyers, professional men. And I just had the feeling that most of them were married. I couldn't tell you why I thought so, but I did. It's hard to explain."
I ordered another round of drinks, and she started to loosen up. The picture began to fill in and take form. There were telephone calls which she answered when Wendy was out of the apartment, cryptic messages she had to relay. There was the drunk who showed up one night when Wendy wasn't home who told Marcia that she would do just fine and made a clumsy pass at her. She had managed to get rid of him, but still didn't realize that Wendy's male friends constituted a source of income to her.
"I thought she was a tramp," she said. "I'm not a moralist, Mr. Scudder.
During that time I was probably going overboard in the opposite direction. Not in terms of how I behaved, but how I felt about things. All those uptight virgins at Evangeline House, and the result was that I had sort of mixed feelings
"And she wasn't working."
"No."
"Did you wonder where her money came from?"
"Not for a while. I gradually managed to realize that she never seemed to have to go to the office, and when I said something, she admitted she was between jobs at the moment. She said she had enough money so that she didn't care if she didn't find anything for a month or two. What I didn't realize was that she wasn't even looking for work. I would come home from my own job, and she would say something about employment agencies and job interviews, and I would have no way of knowing that she hadn't even been looking."
"Was she a prostitute at the time?"
"I don't know if you would call it that."
"How do you mean?"
"She was taking money from men. I guess she had been doing that for as long as she was in the apartment. But I don't know if she was exactly a prostitute."
"How did you first figure out what was going on?"
She picked up her drink and took another sip of it. She put the glass down and worried her forehead with her fingertips. "It was gradual," she said.
I waited.
"She was dating a lot. Older men, but that didn't surprise me. And usually, uh, well, she and her date would go to bed." She lowered her eyes. "I wasn't snooping, but it was impossible not to notice this.
The apartment, she had the bedroom and I had the living room, there was a convertible sofa in the living room-"
"I've seen the apartment."
"Then you know the layout. You have to go through the living room to get into the bedroom, so if I was home, she would bring her date through my room and into the bedroom, and they would be in there for half an hour or an hour, and then either Wendy would walk him to the door or he would go out by himself."
"Did this bother you?"
"That she was having sex with them? No, it didn't bother me. Why would it bother me?"
"I don't know."
"One of the reasons I moved out of Evangeline House was to live like an adult. I wasn't a virgin myself. And the fact that Wendy brought men to the apartment meant I could feel free to bring men home myself if I wanted to."
"Did you?"
She colored. "I wasn't seeing anyone special at the time."
"So you knew Wendy was promiscuous, but you didn't know she was taking money."
"Not at the time, no."
"She was seeing a great many different men?"
"I don't know. I saw the same men over again on several occasions, especially at first. A lot of the time I didn't meet the men she was with. I spent a lot of the time away from the apartment. Or I would come home when she was already in the bedroom with someone, and I might go out for a drink or something and come back after he had left."
I studied her, and she averted her eyes. I said, "You suspected something almost from the beginning, didn't you?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"There was something about the men."
"I suppose so."
"What was it? What were the men like?"
"Older, of course, but that didn't surprise me. Also, they were all well dressed. They looked like, oh, I don't know. Businessmen, lawyers, professional men. And I just had the feeling that most of them were married. I couldn't tell you why I thought so, but I did. It's hard to explain."
I ordered another round of drinks, and she started to loosen up. The picture began to fill in and take form. There were telephone calls which she answered when Wendy was out of the apartment, cryptic messages she had to relay. There was the drunk who showed up one night when Wendy wasn't home who told Marcia that she would do just fine and made a clumsy pass at her. She had managed to get rid of him, but still didn't realize that Wendy's male friends constituted a source of income to her.
"I thought she was a tramp," she said. "I'm not a moralist, Mr. Scudder.
During that time I was probably going overboard in the opposite direction. Not in terms of how I behaved, but how I felt about things. All those uptight virgins at Evangeline House, and the result was that I had sort of mixed feelings
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