THEN WE can relax,” Mrs. Norris said, and then suddenly realized she was relaxing more with Mr. Tully than so short an acquaintance justified. Ah, but it was like the stress of wartime, and like war, it wasn’t the circumstance you welcomed, but the distraction you found from it. Mr. Tully, who might never have relaxed at all if he did the duties connected with his office first, consented at least to follow up Mrs. Norris’ clue to the General’s fair lady. He commenced their exchange with the florist by buying Mrs. Norris a single tea rose for her shoulder and a bit of green to cushion it. She was putting it on and Tully paying for it when she remembered Robbie and his quoting of Bobbie Burns… “My love is like a red, red rose.” “Oh there now,” she said, “you’ve put me in mind of my brother-in-law.” “Is that good or bad?” said Tully, waiting his change. “I don’t know that it’s bad, but it isn’t good,” she said. “I’ll tell you about it later if you like.”
