As they were crossing the floor to their table she saw Lord Mackworth dining with a man older than himself at a table near the windows. She sat down to the sweet. He had caught sight of her and was looking at her fixedly. She stared at him for a moment with the casually interested stare of non-recognition, perfectly executed. "The yacht hasn’t left, then, after all," she reflected, and to Felix: "Did that big yacht leave to-night?" "No," said Felix. "I heard they’d changed their minds." Felix had the faculty of hearing everything. In spite of herself Lilian was disturbed. IV Chemin de Fer When Felix said that of course they must visit the baccarat rooms she vaguely acquiesced. A mood of the old apprehension had mysteriously succeeded her exultation; she wanted to exorcise it and couldn’t. She would have tried to dance the gloom away, but Felix did not suggest another dance; she understood that he had danced once because it was proper for an enlightened amateur of life to forgo no sensation, and that he would not dance again unless asked. She would not ask. He had given her a cigarette and a liqueur; she had accepted a second liqueur and then declined it, afraid of it and anxious for her reputation in his eyes. There were formalities to accomplish at the entrance to the baccarat rooms--forms to be filled up and money to be paid. "They make a small charge for emptying your pockets," said Felix. "They pretend to be rather particular about their victims." The select rooms were crowded. Every table in the blazing interior had round it a thick ring of sitters and standers, and many people were walking to and fro, disappointed or hopeful. By tiptoeing and supporting herself on Felix’s shoulder Lilian could just see the green cloth of a table, like the floor of a pit whose walls were bodies elegant in evening dress; it was littered with white, rose, and green counters, banknotes, cards, ash-trays, cigarette cases, and vanity bags. More women were seated than men. A single croupier dominated and ruled the game. Cards and counters were thrown about from side to side. "It seems frightfully exciting," murmured Lilian, scarcely audible, into the ear of Felix. "It is," said Felix gruffly. "It’s the real thing, you know, gambling is. When people lose they lose real money, and when they win, ditto. You can genuinely ruin yourself here. There’s no sham about it. You may go out without even your fare home." He offered these remarks separately, between considerable pauses. "Is baccarat easy to learn?" "Very. But not here--and this isn’t baccarat. This is _chemin de fer_--equally easy, though. I’ll get a pack of cards at the hotel and teach you. It’s _chemin de fer_ at every table. I suppose that’s why they call the rooms ’baccarat’?"