Vladimir Nabokov. De horas y mareas
Vladimir Nabokov. TIME AND EBB
It is most regrettable that I did not fix the ladies' names in my mind when I was introduced to them. Two willowy, interchangeable maiden ladies on hard chairs had names beginning with W, and, of the others, one was certainly called Miss Bissing. This I had heard distinctly, but could not later connect with any particular face or facelike object. There was only one other man besides Dr. Shoe and myself. He turned out to be a compatriot of mine, a Colonel Malikov or Melni-kov; in Mrs. Hall's rendering it had sounded more like "Milwaukee." While some soft, pale drinks were being passed around, he leaned toward me with a leathery, creaking sound,