Burke and Paulsen glanced at each other, as though resolve had carried
them this far but had now run out, leaving them irresolute in the face
of some distasteful task. Both men wore black dominos, with the cowls
thrown back.
"Were you afraid you'd be recognized coming here?" Durham said. A small
pulse of fright began to beat in him, and this was idiotic. It made him
angry. "What do you want?"
Paulsen said in a reluctant voice, not looking at him, "_I_ don't
want anything, Durham, believe me." Durham had once been engaged to
Paulsen's sister, a thing both of them preferred not to remember but
couldn't quite forget. He went on, "We were sent here."
Durham tried to think who might have sent them. Certainly not any of
the girls; certainly not any one of the people he owed money to. Two
members of the Terran World Embassy corps, even young and still obscure
members in the lower echelons, were above either of those missions.
"Who sent you?"