"I shall keep him safe as a babe in arms." He will, right up until the point when it is convenient to do the opposite. He likes Ned, but Dirk likes himself more.

Considering, he adds, "You're welcome to come along, if you like." Daneel is interesting to him, and so far hasn't presented himself as annoying, intrusive or obstructive, so he'd like to spend some more time talking with him.