She did not have long to wait. Riatt, with all the satisfaction in his bearing of one who has just bathed, shaved and eaten, came down to her at once.
“Good morning, Pro Bono Publico,” he said, just glancing about to be sure he was not overheard. “It was not necessary to put this interview on an altruistic basis. I should have been glad to come to it, even if it had been as a favor to you.”
“Isn’t that rather a reckless way for a man in your situation to talk?”
She looked at him with her hard, dark eyes. “Isn’t that rather a reckless way for a man in your situation to talk?”
“I was not aware that I was in a situation.”
This was exactly the expression that she had wanted from him. It seemed to come spontaneously, and could only mean that at least he was not newly engaged.
She relaxed the tension of her attitude. “Are you really under the impression that you’re not?”
“I feel quite sure of it.”