"My advice is: be careful."
"It's all very well to sit there and say that, Phil. But I can't be careful."
"Well, what do you want? Divorce?"
"A divorce, even if Fane consented," said Sharpless, "would mean good-by to the Staff College. But I'm beginning to think-"
"You're beginning to think: never mind the Staff College. To hell with the Staff College. You don't want to go to the place anyway. Is that it?"
"No, not that, exactly. Something like it, though. And, in any case, don't sit there puffing your pipe and looking like the Wise Man of the East. This is serious. I want advice; not sarcasm. Can't you rally round and offer a helpful suggestion?"
Courtney stirred with discomfort. Though he was only half a dozen years older than Sharpless's twenty-seven, he felt at once far older and yet less experienced.
"Look here, Frank. I can't solve your problem for you, and neither can anybody else. It's something you've got to work out for yourself."
"Oh, Lord!"
"It's true. If you love this girl, and she loves you, and you can see a way out without too much scandal, I should say go ahead. Have the girl and the Staff College too. Only for the love of Mike make sure you know what you're doing."