Quotation from: The Arrow of Gold

Written by: Joseph Conrad

"That's true," he said, gazing at me in a way in which the damned
gaze out of their cauldrons of boiling pitch at some soul walking
scot free in the place of torment. "It's true, you don't seem to
have anything on your mind." He assumed an air of ease, throwing
an arm over the back of his chair and blowing the smoke through the
gash of his twisted red mouth. "Tell me," he said, "between men,
you know, has this--wonderful celebrity--what does she call
herself? How long has she been your mistress?"