“I must be the best judge of that,” he said, and moving to a table desk in the centre of the room he opened a drawer and took out a paper. “Will you come here and read this? And then sign it?” She went to his side, and taking the paper from his hand, read it carefully through. It was an agreement, simply and briefly worded, which bound her as confidential assistant and private secretary to Féodor Dimitrius for the time of one year positively, with the understanding that this period should be extended to two years, if agreeable to both parties. Without a moment’s hesitation, she took up a pen, dipped it in ink, and signed it in a clear and very firmly characteristic way. “A good signature!” commented Dimitrius. “If handwriting expresses anything, you should be possessed of a strong will and a good brain. Have you ever had occasion to exercise either?” Diana thought a moment--then laughed. “Yes!--in a policy of repression!” A humorous sparkle in his eyes responded to her remark. “I understand! Well, now”--and he put away the signed agreement in a drawer of his desk and locked it--“you must begin to obey me at once! You will first come and have some breakfast, and I’ll introduce you to my mother. Next, you will return to your hotel in Geneva, pay your bill, and remove your luggage. I can show you a short cut back to the town, through these grounds and by the border of the lake. By the way, how much do you owe your friend in England?” “About a hundred pounds.” “Here is an English bank-note for that sum,” said Dimitrius, taking it from a roll of paper money in his desk. “Send it to her in a registered letter. And here is an extra fifty pound note for any immediate expenses,--you will understand you have drawn this money in advance of your salary. Now when you get to your hotel, have your luggage taken to the railway station and left in the Salle des Bagages,--they will give you a number for it. Then when all this is done, walk quietly back here by the same private path through the grounds which you will presently become acquainted with, and I will send a man I sometimes employ from Mornex, to fetch your belongings here. In this way the good gossiping folk of Geneva will be unable to state what has become of you, or where you have chosen to go. You follow me?” “Quite!” answered Diana--“And I shall obey you in every particular.” “Good! Now come and see my mother.” He showed her into an apartment situated on the other side of the entrance hall--a beautiful room, lightly and elegantly furnished, where, at a tempting-looking breakfast table, spread with snowy linen, delicate china and glittering silver, sat one of the most picturesque old ladies possible to imagine. She rose as her son and Diana entered and advanced to meet them with a charming grace--her tall slight figure, snow-white hair, and gentle, delicate face, lit up with the tenderest of blue eyes, making an atmosphere of attractive influence around her as she moved.