Levin said:
"Yes, that's all right. He'll be immensely pleased. He's going to speak to you about that!" Tietjens gave an immense sigh of relief.
"I remembered that my orders were conflicting just before. . . . It was a terrible shock to remember. . . . If I sent them up in the lorries, the repairs to the railway might be delayed. . . . If I didn't, you might get strafed to hell. . . . It was an intolerable worry. . . ."
Levin said:
"You remember it just as you saw the handle of your door moving. . . ."
Tietjens said from a sort of a mist:
"Yes. You know how beastly it is when you suddenly remember you have forgotten something in orders. As if the pit of your stomach had . . ."
Levin said:
"All I ever thought about if I'd forgotten anything was what would be a good excuse to put up to the adjutant . . . When I was a regimental officer . . ."
Suddenly Tietjens said insistently: