After the pleasant meal was over, for it had been pleasant, and the cheerful hostess had taken special pains over the menu, Sylvia weary at the thought of another long, dull evening in the drawing-room of the Villa du Lac, was secretly pleased to hear Madame Wachner exclaim coaxingly: "And now, I do 'ope, Mr.Chester, that you will come over and spend this evening at the Casino! I know you do not approve of the play that goes on there, but still, believe me, it is the only thing to do at Lacville.
Lacville would be a very dull place were it not for the Casino!" Chester smiled.
"You think me far more particular than I am really," he said, lightly.
"I don't in the least mind going to the Casino." Why should he be a spoil-sport?
"But I confess I cannot understand the kind of attraction play has for some minds.

For instance, I cannot understand the extraordinary fascination it seems to exercise over such an intelligent man as is that Comte de Virieu." Madame Wachner looked at the speaker significantly.
"Ah!" she said.

"The poor Count! 'E is what you call 'confirmed'-- a confirmed gambler.

And 'e will now be able to play more than ever, for I 'ear a fortune 'as been left to 'im!" Sylvia was startled.

She wondered how the Wachners could have come to know of the Count's legacy.