“And if you’re unhappy working in Turtle Bay, you can work from your own desk at W&W, but don’t let your distance make more work for Joan, like calling her to come get a file. If you become friends, she’ll go out of her way to help you.”

“Okay.”

“Allison, you seem to have some sort of chip on your shoulder. You want to tell me about it?”

“It’s nothing to do with you, in spite of what I’ve heard. I just thought that by this time, I’d be doing more important work.”

“What sort of work?”

“More client contact.”

“You’ve been with the firm for what, a year?”

“Yes.”

“There are people over there who’ve been associates for twenty years or more and have rarely seen a client, and they’re doing important work. My experience of Bill Eggers is that he likes to see people succeed, and if you impress him, you’ll be given all the responsibility you can handle.”

“I’ve heard that,” she said.

“Did you expect that you’d make partner by now?”

“No, of course not.”

“Why do you think Bill sent you to me?”

“I’m not sure,” she said.

“Have you been having problems with people in Seagram?”

“A little, maybe.”

“Well, there are fewer people to get along with here; maybe Bill thought it would be good practice for you to start small, before you go back to the offices.”

“You haven’t asked what I’ve heard about you,” she said.

“I’m not interested in gossip. If you’ve heard something that concerns you, then bring it up now or later, and we can talk about it.”

“All right. I’ve heard that you will screw anything that moves, and I’m not up for that.”

Stone laughed. “Perhaps you haven’t heard that I’m recently married.”

“No, I hadn’t.”

“She’s in Virginia, moving into a new house that she started a year ago, and she’ll be gone the better part of a month, but your virtue is not in jeopardy. And we have a son who’s in school at Knickerbocker Hall, on the Upper East Side. His name is Peter, and you’ll meet him in due course. You’ll find that he’s smarter than you, just as he’s smarter than I. It can be a little unsettling at first, but he’s a good kid.”

“I’ll look forward to meeting him.”

“One other thing: a gossip-type journalist has been sniffing around since our wedding, so be on your guard, and let me know immediately if somebody sidles up to you and starts asking questions. Our privacy is important to us.”

“Of course.”

“Any other questions?”

“I expect I’ll have some soon.”

“Try Joan first, then me. Go see her, and she’ll get you settled. You’d be smart to take her to lunch one day soon.”