She smiled back at him, grateful that the silence had been broken. «What were they?» she asked.
«I was going to take you off to a farmhouse in France,» he said. «And after a wonderful dinner I was going to see if it’s true what they say about the scream of a rose.»
She laughed. «I’m sorry I can’t oblige. But there are plenty of others waiting to be picked.»
«Yes, I suppose so,» said Bond. «Well, goodbye, Gala.» He held out his hand.
«Goodbye, James.»
He touched her for the last time and then they turned away from each other and walked off into their different lives.