第9部分(第5/7 頁)

on　the　tray　with　a

flourish。　Blair　had　requested　the　daily　paper　when　she　checked　in？a　Yale　woman　had　to　keep　up

on　world　events；　after　all。　So　what　if　she　hadn？t　exactly　gotten　around　to　the　reading　part？

？Will　that　be　all？？Wendy　asked　primly。

Blair　nodded　and　the　maid　disappeared　into　the　sitting　room。　Blair　speared　one　of　the　huge

sausages　with　her　fork　and　picked　up　the　paper；　skimming　the　front　page。　But　the　tiny　typeface

and　matter…of…fact　photographs　were　so　boring　she　couldn？t　concentrate。　The　only　paper　she　ever

read　was　the　Sunday　Styles　section　of　theNew　York　Times　；　if　only　to　scan　the　charity　event

pictures　for　familiar　faces。　Why　would　a　worldly　woman　like　herself　need　to　read　world　news；

anyway？　Shewas　world　news。

Blair　had　always　been　impulsive；　but　her　presence　in　London　had　actually　been　Marcus？s　idea。

His　graduation　present　to　her？other　than　the　ridiculously　extravagant　Bvlgari　earrings？had　been　a

plane　ticket　to　London。　Blair　had　envisioned　rainy　weeks　locked　in　his　enormous　stone　castle

having　chain…sex？the　equivalent　of　chain…smoking？stopping　only　to　gnaw　on　a　cold　leg　of　mutton

or　whatever　medieval　snack　was　stored　in　the　castle？s　primitive　but　well…stocked　kitchen。　But

Marcus　had　been　so　busy　working　for　his　dad　all　he　ever　had　time　for　was　lunch　and　a　brief　snog。

Dropping　the　unopened　paper　onto　the　floor；　she　scanned　her　bedside　table　for

BritishVogue　？she？d　stocked　up　on　all　the　English　magazines　so　she？d　know　what　to　buy　and

where　to　buy　it？when　her　new　razor…thin　Vertu　phone　chimed　prettily。　There　was　only　one　person

who　had　her　new　London　telephone　number。

？Hello？？　she　answered　as　sexily　as　she　could　wi