“I thought the castle was closed,” he wondered. “How did you cross the inviolable barriers?”
“I had the magic password,” smiled Io.
“Youth? Beauty? Or just audacity?”
“Your Honor is pleased to flatter,” she returned, drooping her eyes at him with a purposefully artificial effect. From the time when she was a child of four she had carried on a violent and highly appreciated flirtation with “Cousin Billy,” being the only person in the world who employed the diminutive of his name.
“You knew Banneker before? But, of course. Everybody knows Banneker.”
“It’s quite wonderful, isn’t it! He never makes an effort, I’m told. People just come to him. Where did you meet him?”
Enderby told her. “We’re allies, in a way. Though sometimes he is against us. He’s doing yeoman work in this reform mayoralty campaign. If we elect Robert Laird, as I think we shall, it will be chiefly due to The Patriot’s editorials.”
“Then you have confidence in Mr. Banneker?” she asked quickly.
“Well—in a way, I have,” he returned hesitantly.
“But with reservations,” she interpreted. “What are they?”