"Good afternoon, Miss Peterson. Honest, I feel almost like a cub. In a few hours, you've become quite a figure." Mr. Lubrano was young, good-looking in a dark, dangerous, eager Latin way. He took Jeanne's proffered hand, held it and looked at her long enough to let her know he appreciated what he saw, briefly enough to indicate everything would be strictly business if she wanted it that way. Jeanne had been firm with Aunt Anna and her folks. Their part in this was to be strictly a vicarious one. She would answer their questions later. As it turned out, Pop almost had to propel Aunt Anna from the room, and this only because Jeanne had insisted beforehand. Mom couldn't fathom the fuss or the secrecy, and contentedly did as she was told. "You're younger than I expected, Miss Peterson." "Come now. Tom's only twenty-five. You know that." "Well, then, prettier." "Then we're even. After a reporter friend Pop once had, you could be Tyrone Power." "Lovely dress you're wearing." He fingered the taffeta at her shoulder, let his hand rest more heavily than necessary. When she pulled away and sat as primly as she could on a straight-backed chair he said the one word, "Business?" He made it a question. "Business." "Just how long have you known the Man in the Moon?" "The Man--really!" "Oh, that's him. That's your Thomas Bentley. He's the Man in the Moon now." Jeanne suppressed an unfeminine snicker. "About nine years. High school together, dates, going steady, engaged. The usual middle-sized town sort of thing." "Love him?" "Of course. Really, Mr. Lubrano." For the next thirty minutes, Dan Lubrano asked her the sort of questions that might make an adequate Sunday-supplement feature. Nothing startling, nothing very original--except for the fact that Jeanne, as the fiancee of the first man to rocket across interplanetary space and reach the moon, was an unusual subject. Did she plan on marrying Tom upon his return? Naturally, but only the highest echelon of government and military circles knew when that might be. Was she afraid the utter desolation of space would somehow--change him? Lubrano made the pause significant. Might make him more romantic if anything, although Tom never tended toward stodginess. Could she be quoted as saying she looked up at the moon every clear night and called softly, silently, secretly to Tom across the unthinkable distances? Yes, if it were absolutely necessary. When they finished, Jeanne said: "Don't tell me that's all, Dan?" "Officially, yes. Unofficially, I haven't started. Look, Miss Peterson--Jeanne--mind if I'm perfectly frank?" Jeanne said she didn't mind at all. Lubrano grinned, displaying his piano-key teeth. "Jeanne, all my life I've looked for something like you. Only it's something you almost never find. Either you're lucky or you're not. Me, I'm lucky, I've found the fiancee of the Man in the Moon. To make things even better, you've got your share of good looks--and you're not dumb, either."