I walked over to a chair and sat down. Bertha Cool continued to study her reflection from various angles. “How old do you think I am?” she asked abruptly.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, make a guess.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Good heavens, you’ve formed some opinion. A person always get an idea of how old anyone is. How old did you think I was when you first saw me? No, not then. How old do you think I look now?”

I said, “I don’t have any idea how old you are. I don’t even know how old you look. I came to tell you I was quitting.”

She jerked her head around. Her hard, glittering eyes stabbed into mine. “Quitting!”

“That’s what I said.”

“But you can’t quit.”

“Why not?”