' What do I get?' he asked.
' The pleasure of seeing me act, silly.'
He shook his head.
' I'm afraid I must forget that pleasure,' he said. ' Your contract binds you to give no theatrical representations of any sort except under my direction.'
The gamin element rose to the surface in her.
' What a beast you are!' she said. ' It is for a charity!'
' And a cheque,' he observed.
' The cheque is purely informal. Besides, we shall be there together.'
He took a cigar out of his case, bit the end off with his long teeth, that gleamed extremely white between the very remarkable red of his lips.
' Look here, Dolly,' he said; ' there are two sides to the relations in which we are placed. One is purely business-like; the other is purely sentimental. It is a pity to let them overlap. It spoils my devotion to you to feel that it is in a way mixed up with business, and it offends my instincts as a business man to let sentiment have a word to say in our bargains. Briefly, then, I forbid your acting for Mrs. Palmer unless you make it worth my while. After all, I didn't bring you out here for sentimental reasons; I brought you out because, from a financial point of view, I thought it would be good for both of us.'
' What do you want?' she asked.
' Half your cheque.'
' For something you haven't arranged, and which won't cost you a penny?'
' Yes. I am talking business. You can close with that offer any time to-day; to-morrow it will be two-thirds. I'm quite square with you.'
' Americans are Jews,' observed Mrs. Emsworth.
' Possibly; it would be an advantage if everyone was; it would simplify bargaining immensely. The Gentile
