Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0011288, Thu, 31 Mar 2005 07:41:15 -0800

Subject
Fwd: Query: room number in ADA
Date
Body
Greetings, dear Group
I've encountered another confusing detail in ADA, so I am seeking help
once again. In Chapter 38 (Part I) of the novel, having treated him
with 'un dîner à quatre' (important note, I assume), Marina asks Demon
about his hotel room number:

---
‘I had hoped you’d sleep here,’ said Marina (not really caring one way or
another). ‘What is your room number at the hotel — not 222 by any chance?’
She liked romantic coincidences. Demon consulted the tag on his key: 221 —
which was good enough, fatidically and anecdotically speaking. Naughty
Ada, of course, stole a glance at Van, who tensed up the wings of his nose
in a grimace that mimicked the slant of Pedro’s narrow, beautiful nostrils.
---

My question is: what makes Ada to steal a glance at Van?
Is the '222' an allusion to the 'two-two to Toulouse' train they (Ada and
Van, but we may presume that Marina knew of its existence) could hear from
the hill in Ardis The First? Or is it just 'two to two' on the clock
(the 'romantic coincidence')?
Or are my thoughts too far-fetched and it's simply an allusion to
lovemaking arrangements of some kind?
And yes - why 'fatidically'?

Thanks,
Tomasz from Poland

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