“I sat down at a table about halfway down the lounge and ordered tea. Then I lit a cigarette and looked about me. Round about the door there were a lot of showcases, fitted on to the wall, with jewelry, silver plate, and so on, displayed in them. There was another large one, full of embroidered linen and lace things; it was open, and at it, sampling the goods and chattering away like one o’clock, were Mrs. Forrester and Eunice Unthank—no, not Nina too, thank Heaven! Because the neat girl who was selling, or trying to sell, the stuff, was Madame Valdez! I picked up a copy of the day before yesterday’s _Temps_ from the next table, held it before my face, and peered at them over it. She wasn’t in her blue frock now; she wore plain black, with a bit of white round the neck; short skirt and black silk stockings. They brought my tea; I drank it with one hand and held the _Temps_ up with the other; naturally I didn’t want Mrs. Forrester and Eunice to see me! “They were the deuce of a time—Lord, I could buy or sell half Europe in the time a woman takes over a pocket-handkerchief!—but I didn’t mind that; I had my plan. At last they went; she did up their parcel and went with them to the door, with lots of ‘Thank you’ and ‘Good-by’ (they spoke English) on both sides. It was past five; I waited still, and meanwhile finished and paid for my tea. I saw her making entries in a ledger; then she went through the case, checking her stock, I suppose; then, just as a clock struck five-thirty, she shut the case with a little bang and turned the key; then she disappeared into a cupboard or something, and came back in her hat and jacket. By that time I was by the door, with my hat and stick in my hand. We met just by her case—which, by the way, had on it in large gilt letters, _Maison de la Belle Étoile_, Nice. “‘Good-evening,’ I said. ‘May I have the pleasure of walking home with you, Madame Valdez?’ “She didn’t seem surprised. ‘I’m Mademoiselle Lucie here,’ she said, smiling. ‘Oh, yes, if you like. Take me down to the Promenade—by the sea. I’m half stifled.’ “We said hardly anything on the way down—at any rate, nothing of any importance; and it was dusk; I could see her face only dimly. When we got to the Promenade, and the wind from the sea caught us in the face, she sighed, ‘Ah!’ and suddenly took my arm. ‘Was it a fluke, or did you come to look for me? Did Arsenio tell you?’ “‘No, he didn’t. I’ve hunted the town all day for you. And I’ve found you at last. Arsenio’s gone to Monte Carlo.’ “‘I know he has. Why did you want to find me? You needn’t worry about me. I’m all right. I’ve got a very good situation now. I find it’s easier work to sell things than to make them, Mr. Frost. And the _patrons_ are pleased with me. They say I have an ingratiating way that produces business! I wonder whether I was ingratiating with that woman and girl just now! They spent three hundred francs!’