“No,” the girl said. “I don’t agree. The paper means nothing unless you say them in your heart.”
“And what if you haven’t a heart, or your heart is worthless?”
“You have a heart and it is not worthless.”
I would sure as hell like to trade it in on a new one, the Colonel thought. I do not see why that one, of all the muscles, should fail me. But he said nothing of this, and put his hand in his pocket.
“They feel wonderful,” he said. “And you look wonderful.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I will remember that all week.”
“You could always just look in the glass.”
“The mirror bores me,” she said. “Putting on lipstick and moving your mouths over each other to get it spread properly and combing your too heavy hair is not a life for a woman, or even a girl alone, who loves someone. When you want to be the moon and various stars and live with your man and have five sons, looking at yourself in the mirror and doing the artifices of a woman is not very exciting.”
“Then let us be married at once.”
“No,” she said. “I had to make a decision about that, as about the other different things. All week long is my time to make decisions.”
“I make them too,” the Colonel told her. “But I am very vulnerable on this.”
“Let’s not talk about it. It makes a sweet hurt, but I think we would do better to find out what the Gran
