I need your help enormously, but you must make up your mind, before you say the last word, to run a certain measure of risk." "What risk is there for me to run ?" she asked, with a smile of confidence.

"What measure of unhappiness could be crowded into my life which is not already there?
I insist upon it--John--that you accept me as an ally without any more hesitation." He bent and kissed her hands.
"This, then, is final," he said.

"Within the next twenty-four hours you will be ready if necessary ?" "I am ready now--any time--always," she promised him..