"Of course--Mrs--I mean, Margaret," Ernie said, trying to smile back.
"It--I think the things should be cleared up and alright. I shouldn't impose for too long--it's quite alright--things will be alright--I'll be alright, and in any case, I'd need to get my act together for Monday. I appreciate it, but I'm alright." Ernie was fairly sure that there was some sort of inverse relationship beween the number of times he said he was alright and his actual level of alright-edness...