"The very customer," Merle beamed, "and that beauteous conjuror's assistant you saw'd likely be ol' Erlys herself, and say, you'll want to close your mouth there, Buck, 'fore somethin flies into it?"—the casual mention of adultery having produced in Randolph's face a degree of stupefaction one regrets to term characteristic.
* * * * * * * * * *
""The very customer," Merle beamed"
Even though Zombini the Mysterious is banging his wife, Merle is still somehow proud to be associated with the famous person. If "cuck" were a word that was in my vocabulary (other than to call people who call people cucks "cucks" because they're the only ones who become outraged by it; nobody else fucking cares), I'd call Merle a cuck. But I won't because all that matters is that he's happy. Unless he's just putting on a brave face for the boys.
"likely be ol' Erlys herself"
Erlys, Merle's wife. Erlys seems to be of Welsh origin. It's the Middle English spelling of the word "earls" as in "Earls and Dukes and Viscounts and Marquesses and such." It's an anagram of "slyer," probably because she's slyer than Merle (whose name anagrams to "Elmer" and who has ever known a sly Elmer?!) which is why she cheated on him with a mesmerist.
"you'll want to close your mouth there, Buck"
A "buck" is a male goat or a male deer. I don't think it has any meaning here except as a casual way for Merle to engage Randolph and say, "Look, you're making us all uncomfortable with your reaction so could you maybe not be so dramatic. If I'm fine with it, you can be too."
"the casual mention of adultery"
Was adultery mentioned even casually? I suppose an adult woman doesn't just "run away with" an adult man the way a child runs away to the circus. You've got to assume a little hanky-panky was behind the decision, right?
"produced in Randolph's face a degree of stupefaction one regrets to term characteristic"
If I unraveled this sentence correctly, the narrator is saying that Randolph, all too often, looks stupefied. Poor kid. Shocked by all the earthly and fleshly actions of human beings. You know, the way a pure and innocent angel from Heaven might act!
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