"Excellent!" he said. "Now that is settled: what is it you are instructed to propose to me?"
She laughed softly. "Always direct! Truly you would never shine as a secret agent."
"Not as they shine," Lanyard countered—"in the dark."
"Don't be a fraud. We are what we are, and so are you. Let us not begin to be censorious of one another's methods of winning a living."
"Agreed. But when do we begin to talk business?"
"Why do you continue so persistently antagonistic?"
"I am French."
"That is silly. You are an outlaw, a man without a country. Why not change all that?"
"And how does one effect miracles?"
"Germany offers you a refuge, security, freedom to ply your trade unhindered—within reasonable limits."