I tightened the couplings before she saw what I was about.
"That's soon remedied. Come to me when the finger's nice and plump again, and I'll let it out."
A shadow of annoyance crossed her face.
"Now I shall have it cut," she said.
"You could have had that done three weeks ago. You could have thrown the thing away three days ago. You didn't do either."
A smile dimpled its way into her cheeks. "How old are you? Over forty?"
"What a way of looking at things!" I exclaimed. "Marlborough was fifty before he started his campaigns, Wren nearer fifty than forty before ever he put pencil to paper. You don't know the possibilities of virgin soil."
"I was wondering how long it was since you left school."
I got up and dusted the flecks of cigarette ash from my shirt.
"I'm going now," I said. "It's time you were in bed. Just one word before I go. You want to win this wager, don't you? So do I. Well, if you don't give yourself a holiday, you're going to break down and lose it."