“I just thought a doctor might help.”
“Well, he wouldn’t.”
“Sometime you might want to get a physician’s certificate.”
“When I do, I’ll get one all right. Don’t you worry about that.”
“What am I supposed to do about this construction job?”
“Bertha will have to go over it with you, lover. Let’s try and get this case finished first. But if anyone should start asking questions, remember that I haven’t been able to stand the strain, that I’m threatened with a breakdown, and you’re taking over the entire construction.”
“But why should I say that?”
Bertha said angrily, “Dammit, don’t be so contrary. Say it because—” She caught herself, after a moment finished in a more conversational tone of voice: “because you wouldn’t want to let Bertha down, particularly when Bertha had bitten off more than she could chew trying to do something for her country.”
“Patriotism?” I asked.
“We’ve all got to do our part,” Bertha said unctuously.