"Conditions?" she asked.

"You must understand, once and for all," he said, "that I will not
be made love to, and that I can treat you only as a working;
companion. My name will be Peter Ruff, and yours Miss Brown. You
will have to dress like a secretary, and behave like one. Sometimes
there will be plenty of work for you, and sometimes there will be
none at all. Sometimes you will be bored to death, and sometimes
there will be excitement. I do not wish to make you vain, but I may
add, especially as you are aware of my personal feelings toward you,
that you are the only person in the world to whom I would make this
offer."

She sighed gently.

"Tell me, Peter," she asked, "when do you mean to start this new
enterprise?"

"Not for six months - perhaps a year," he answered. "I must go to
Paris - perhaps Vienna. I might even have to go to New York. There
are certain associations with which I must come into touch - certain
information I must become possessed of."

"Peter," she said, "I like your scheme, but there is just one thing.
Such men as you should be the brains of great enterprises. Don't
you understand what I mean? It shouldn't be you who does the actual
thing which brings you within the power of the law. I am not
over-scrupulous, you know. I hate wrongdoing, but I have never been
able to treat as equal criminals the poor man who steals for a