“I disagree. I’d say Sam Mallory’s the most trustworthy person I’ve ever met.”

“And I’m sure you believe that, and I’m not saying he’s not. But you’ve led a sheltered life, Irene. I know you think you haven’t, but you have. I’ve got twenty years on you, twenty years spent in the business world, and Sam’s been to war and everything that means. He’s got a wife and a kid. He’s been around the block more than once.” Morrow paused and peered at her, expecting some response.

“Just say what you mean, Mr. Morrow.”

“Look, I’m only saying that you might want to reconsider this idea of partnership. On your own, flying solo, you could conquer the world. You don’t need a man flying the ship for you. You can be in charge. Look around you. Your time has come. You’re the future, Irene. You should show all those girls growing up out there what they’re capable of. You should give them something to look up to.”

“I thought I was doing that. Anyway, I don’t see why I can’t do that with Sam. He’s an expert pilot with years and years of experience, and I’m still a novice. I’ve got a lot to learn from him.”

“Irene. Irene.” Morrow stood up and walked across the room. He stood by the window and crossed his arms, looking out across the eternal landscape, and then he returned to sit next to her on the old-fashioned settee, with its lion feet and its Victorian humpback.

Irene knew something was coming. Even if she didn’t feel the warp of her own instinct, she certainly noticed the signs of George Morrow’s own agitation. His thumbs circled each other. She noticed the whiteness of his cuffs against the tan of his wrists and hands. He was a fit man; he played tennis and swam and did all the fashionable new callisthenic exercises in a gymnasium he’d recently built at his own estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. Always Morrow gave off a racket of immense energy contained inside those well-tailored clothes, and maybe it was this energy that was so attractive, and maybe it was his attractiveness that made her hold him at a distance, made her fumble his first name whenever she tested it in her mouth.

Anyway, she knew something was coming, all right. She thought she was ready. She screwed her thumbs together in her lap and lifted an eyebrow to Morrow, as if to say, Out with it, then.

He made a movement of his hand, starting toward hers and then thinking better of it. “Now, what I’m about to tell you, I maybe should have said something earlier. I wanted to protect you. I thought the whole thing would blow over. But it hasn’t. And it’s time you know about some photographs out there.”