Would he ask her to stay? Her resignation was typed and ready. But Joan was strangely reluctant to submit it to Brandt. Her resolve that she was doing the right thing had not wavered, but Brandt's unexplained actions raised hopes she could not entirely shrug aside. Then everything changed with Brandt's words. "Miss Somers," he said curtly, "I'm prepared to accept your resignation. And please make it clear to the agency that this time I want someone older and married. Someone I can rely on not to be carried away by ridiculous flights of fanciful imagination."