“Would it be rude to ask just why you do wear it?” “It would be natural, anyway. I grew it when I was twenty-two, for a bet, and then kept it out of sheer pig-headedness—it looked so wonderfully unsuitable for a Wall Street office; I was with a cousin of my mother’s there and our dislike was mutual. And I think I felt a beard kept me in touch with literature. But it probably has some deep psychological significance—I expect I’m trying to hide an infamous nature from the world.”
