Since You Went Away1944

Colonel William G. Smollett:
Good morning. Mrs. Hilton, I presume?

Mrs. Anne Hilton:
Yes.

Colonel William G. Smollett:
May I be permitted to observe that this is the first house I've found in this godforsaken community that doesn't smell of cabbage.

Mrs. Anne Hilton:
Well, it does sometimes.

Colonel William G. Smollett:
I was given to understand at the office of the Purchasing Division, to which I have the misfortune to be attached, that you had a room for rent.

Mrs. Anne Hilton:
Yes, but I specified an officer. You see, my husband -

Colonel William G. Smollett:
My name is Smollett, William G., Colonel, United States Army, retired. Retired, I might add, by virtue of certain fatuous opinions held in the War Department which judge a man's usefulness neither by his experience nor his ability, but by the number of years since he was weaned.

Bridget 'Brig' Hilton:
[dog growls and barks] Soda. Soda!

Colonel William G. Smollett:
There was nothing in the information I was furnished, madam, which indicated that you had children and domestic pets.

Mrs. Anne Hilton:
Well, I'm sorry, but they go with the house.

Colonel William G. Smollett:
We won't discuss it. With your permission, madam, may we dispense with further conversation? I should like to inspect the room.

Mrs. Anne Hilton:
Certainly. Just follow me. I do hope you'll forgive me if I've been long-winded.

Colonel William G. Smollett:
Not at all, madam. Through a full, and somewhat protracted existence, I have learned to accept the natural tendency of all women to be garrulous.

Mrs. Anne Hilton:
You're very tolerant, Colonel.