I introduced myself to Dori and, since her impatient expression didn't encourage idle chatter, started right in with:
"You and your father are picking up pennies, when you could be rich. Now—"
"If you were going to offer to be our manager, you're wasting your breath. My father has had such offers before, and we want no manager. He's satisfied with things as they are."
That's what I had planned, although being their "manager" would have been only a blind for what I had in mind. I changed my tack.
"As a matter of fact, I was interested in you, Miss Dori. I was attracted to you the moment I saw you. I wonder if you'd go out to dinner with me tonight?"
It was a risky invitation, for I'd have to borrow money for such a date, and prospective creditors were wary of me by now. Her face lit up a little at the words—I'm sure she had received such a compliment rarely, if ever. But she said:
"My father doesn't allow me to go out with men."
I thought a minute.
"Surely, he couldn't have any objection to my visiting him tonight, could he? And if you're there, well...."
"We're staying at the Ringo Hotel," she said after a moment's hesitation, and favored me with a shy smile.