It offers him the information necessary to secure his own safety, on
condition that he makes it worth the writer's while to run the serious
personal risk which such a disclosure will entail on him. And it ends by
stipulating that the answer shall be advertised in the _Times_; shall
be addressed to "An Unknown Friend"; and shall state plainly what
remuneration Mr. Noel Vanstone offers for the priceless service which it
is proposed to render him.
Unless some unexpected complication occurs, this letter places me
exactly in the position which it is my present interest to occupy. If
the advertisement appears, and if the remuneration offered is large
enough to justify me in going over to the camp of the enemy, over I go.
If no advertisement appears, or if Mr. Noel Vanstone rates my invaluable
assistance at too low a figure, here I remain, biding my time till my
fair relative wants me, or till I make her want me, which comes to
the same thing. If the anonymous letter falls by any accident into her
hands, she will find disparaging allusions in it to myself, purposely
introduced to suggest that the writer must be one of the persons whom
I addressed while conducting her inquiries.
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