“I agree entirely. Therefore, I have this day tied the hands of the Lone Wolf; he will not again dare to contend against us.”
Eleven sat up with a startled gesture.
“Are you meaning you’ve got the girl?”
Number One indulged a remote and chilly smile.
“Then you, too, noticed the advertisement? Accept my compliments, Eleven. Decidedly you might prove a dangerous rival—were I in a temper to countenance competition.... But it is true: I have the girl Sofia—the Lone Wolf’s daughter.”
“Where?”
The smile faded; the man on the dais looked down loftily.
“It is enough for you to know I have proved far-sighted and unfailing in my fidelity to our common cause.”
“So you say ...”
Though the Irishman winced and fell silent under the cold glare of the other’s eyes, the voice that answered him was level and passionless.