Major Tillyard and I got in his car. “You’re really very helpful,” I said as we crossed Potobac Creek.
He laughed.
“I have a good deal of sympathy for lovers who’d like to be left alone a moment,” he said dryly. “And Cheryl’s a pretty fine girl.”
“You and Irene don’t, I take it, always see eye to eye,” I said.
“You take Irene’s whims too seriously,” he answered. “The trouble with all the Winthrops is that they’re too stiff-necked to go around an obstacle. They have to crash right through it. Not one of those youngsters has ever made the slightest attempt to lead Irene. They try to bully her, and she balks. She’d never have objected to Cheryl if Rick hadn’t been as insulting as possible to Natalie, and then married Cheryl without a word to Irene. If he’d even brought her down on a visit
