s absurd. It must have
been the weeds."

"Madame Wachner told me that quite a lot of money was found in his room,"
said Sylvia quickly.

"No, that is not true. About four hundred francs were found in his
bed-room. That was all. I fancy the police made themselves rather
unpleasant to Monsieur Wachner. The Russian Embassy made inquiries, and
it seemed so odd to the French authorities that the poor fellow could not
be identified. They found no passport, no papers of any sort--"

"Have you a passport?" asked Sylvia. "Madame Wachner asked me if I had
one. But I've never even seen a passport!"

"No," said Anna, "I have not got a passport now. I once had one, but I
lost it. One does not require such a thing in a civilised country! But a
Russian must always have a passport, it is an absolute law in Russia. And
the disappearance of that young man's passport was certainly strange--in
fact, the whole affair was mysterious."

"It must have been terrible for Monsieur and Madame Wachner," said Sylvia
thoughtfully.

"Oh yes, very disagreeable indeed! Luckily he is entirely absorbed in his
absurd systems, and she is a very cheerful woman."

"Yes, indeed she is!" Sylvia could not help smiling. "I am glad we have
got to know them, Anna. It is rather mournful when one knows no one at
all in a place of this kind."

And Anna agreed, indifferently.

CHAPTER X

And then there began a series of long cloudless days for Sylvia Bailey.
For the first time she felt as if she was seeing life, and such seeing
was very pleasant to her.

Not in her wildest dreams, during the placid days of her girlhood
and brief married life, had she conceived of so interesting and so
exhilarating an existence as that which she was now leading! And this
was perhaps owing in a measure to the fact that there is, if one may so
express it, a spice of naughtiness in life as led at Lacville.

In a mild, a very mild, way Sylvia Bailey had fallen a victim to the
Goddess of Play. She soon learned to look forward to the hours she and
Anna Wolsky spent each day at the baccarat tables. But, unlike Anna,
Sylvia was never tempted to risk a greater sum on that dangerous green
cloth than she could comfortably afford to lose, and perhaps just because
this was so, on the whole she won money rather than lost it.

A certain change had come over the relations of the two women. They still
met daily, if only at the Casino, and they occasionally took a walk or a
drive