tive brain of M. Girard with amazing
quickness.

"Many people go to Lacville in order to play baccarat," he said lightly.

And then Sylvia knew why Anna Wolsky had gone to Lacville.

"But apart from the play, Lacville is a little paradise, Madame," he went
on enthusiastically. "It is a beauteous spot, just like a scene in an
opera. There is the romantic lake, edged with high, shady trees and
princely villas--and then the gay, the delightful Casino!"

"And is there a train soon?"

"I will look Madame out a train this moment, and I will also give her
one of my cousin Polperro's cards. Madame has, of course, heard of the
Empress Eugenie? Well, the Villa du Lac once belonged to one of the
Empress's gentlemen-in-waiting. The very highest nobility stay at the
Villa du Lac with my cousin. At this very moment he has Count Paul de
Virieu, the brother-in-law of a duke, among his clients--"

M. Girard had noticed the British fondness for titles.

"You see, Madame, my cousin was chef to the Emperor of Brazil's
sister--this has given him a connection among the nobility. In the winter
he has an hotel at Mentone," he was looking up the train while he chatted
happily.

"There is a train every ten minutes," he said at last, "from the Gare du
Nord. Or, if Madame prefers it, she could walk up from here to the Square
of the Trinite and take the tramway; but it is quicker and pleasanter to
go by train--unless, indeed, Madame wishes to offer herself the luxury of
an automobile. That, alas! I fear would cost Madame twenty to thirty
francs."

"Of course I will go by train," said Sylvia, smiling, "and I will lunch
at your cousin's hotel, M. Girard."

It would be quite easy to find Anna, or so she thought, for Anna would be
at the Casino. Sylvia felt painfully interested in her friend's love of
gambling. It was so strange that Anna was not ashamed of it.

And then as she drove to the great railway terminus, from which a hundred
and twenty trains start daily for Lacville, it seemed to Sylvia that the
whole of Paris was placarded with the name of the place she was now about
to visit for the first time!

On every hoarding, on every bare piece of wall, were spread large,
flamboyant posters showing a garish but not unattractive landscape. There
was the sun sparkling on a wide stretch of water edged with high trees,
and gay with little sailing boats, each boat with its human freight of
two lovers. Jutting out into the blue lake was a gre