"Yes. I must have money. I have some left—a very little. I must have money; and, in order to get it, I must be dead."
"How will that help?"
"Why, my dear, I am insured, and my insurances will be paid after my death; but not before."
"Oh! must you get money—even by a——" She hesitated.
"Call it a conspiracy, my dear, if you please. As there is no other way whatever left, I must get money that way."
"Oh, this is dreadful! A conspiracy, Harry? a—a—fraud?"
"If you please. That is the name which lawyers give to it."
"But oh, Harry!—it is a crime. It is a thing for which men are tried and found guilty and sentenced."
"Certainly; if they are found out. Meantime, it is only the poor, ignorant, clumsy fool who gets found out. In the City these things are done every day. Quite as a matter of course," he added carelessly. "It is not usual for men to take their wives into confidence, but in this case I must take you into confidence: I have no choice, as you will understand directly."
"Tell me, Harry, who first thought of this way?"