ut
exactly how things were going. Curiosity and distaste struggled in her
mind, but curiosity won; and she persuaded her friend to go to Monte
Carlo instead of to Beaulieu. At first Susie did not see the Haddos; but
rumour was already much occupied with them, and she had only to keep her
ears open. In that strange place, where all that is extravagant and evil,
all that is morbid, insane, and fantastic, is gathered together, the
Haddos were in fit company. They were notorious for their assiduity at
the tables and for their luck, for the dinners and suppers they gave at
places frequented by the very opulent, and for their eccentric
appearance. It was a complex picture that Susie put together from the
scraps of information she collected. After two or three days she saw
them at the tables, but they were so absorbed in their game that she felt
quite safe from discovery. Margaret was playing, but Haddo stood behind
her and directed her movements. Their faces were extraordinarily intent.
Susie fixed her attention on Margaret, for in what she had heard of her
she had been quite unable to recognize the girl who had been her friend.
And what struck her most now was that there was in Margaret's expression
a singular likeness to Haddo's. Notwithstanding her exquisite beauty, she
had a curiously vicious look, which suggested that somehow she saw
literally with Oliver's eyes. They had won great sums that evening, and
many persons watched them. It appeared that they played always in this
fashion, Margaret putting on the stakes and Haddo telling her what to do
and when to stop. Susie heard two Frenchmen talking of them. She listened
with all her ears. She flushed as she heard one of them make an
observation about Margaret which was more than coarse. The other laughed.

'It is incredible,' he said.

'I assure you it's true. They have been married six months, and she is
still only his wife in name. The superstitious through all the ages have
believed in the power of virginity, and the Church has made use of the
idea for its own ends. The man uses her simply as a mascot.'

The men laughed, and their conversation proceeded so grossly that Susie's
cheeks burned. But what she had heard made her look at Margaret more
closely still. She was radiant. Susie could not deny that something had
come to her that gave a new, enigmatic savour to her beauty. She was
dressed more gorgeously than Susie's fastidious taste would have
permitted; and her di