Three days had passed.
Two curious things happened while we were sitting in the atrium of the
Casino in Monte Carlo during the interval.
In the first place Paulton's friend, Henderson, whom I had met only on
that one occasion in the fumoir of the hotel, happened to saunter in.
He looked hard at both of us, but either did not recognise us--a thing
that I think hardly possible--or else deliberately cut us.
Later, I went over to the buffet with Faulkner, for the play was not
interesting, and we had decided to leave. A dozen men stood there,
talking, and suddenly I caught the word "D'Uzerche."
They were talking of the fire three days previously. Anxious to hear
all I could about Chateau d'Uzerche, I moved a little nearer.
"They've not discovered the Baronne's body," I heard the young Frenchman
say, "and apparently no one else was burnt. I wonder if those old
rumours one heard about the Baronne were really true?"
"What rumours?" his companion, a bald-headed gambler, asked. "I don't
seem to remember hearing any."
"You mean to say you have never heard the stories that everybody knows?"
the first speaker exclaimed. "My dear fellow, where do you live?"
"In Paris as a rule," his friend answered drily. "I returned here last
week."
"Ah, pardon me, I had forgotten. Well, it has long been common talk--"
He lowered his voice and spoke into his companion's ear. I approached
as near as I dared, but I could not catch a word.
"You can't mean it!" his friend exclaimed. "Surely it isn't possible!"
"Everything is possible, _mon cher ami_," the first speaker said. "The
less possible things seem, generally the more possible they are. I
shall be anxious to hear what is found inside the safe that the
newspapers say has been discovered amongst the debris. If it is not
claimed it will, I take it, be the duty of the police to open it."
"But surely it will be claimed."
"I doubt it under the circumstances. I believe the rumours to be true."
An electric bell rang arrogantly, in warning that the curtain was about
to rise, and some moments later the atrium was half deserted.