Next, the Baron Van Krab, a fair, well-set-up man of forty, a Britisher of Dutch extraction, and not unknown in the City. Captain Herdby, a retired cavalryman, handsome, well bred, well groomed, somewhat mysterious as to his antecedents, but knowing (or pretending to know) the great world, and ready to ride, dine, shoot, dance, or fill any gap at a moment’s notice. Sir Thomas and Lady Slater, ‘Foxy and Shocky’ as they were nicknamed; he being a little man with a bright, cunning eye, a bushy red moustache, and the legs of a jockey; a conspicuous patron of the turf; his wife, also devoted to racing, was a tall, showy-looking woman, with a large mouth, magnificent teeth, and an ever-ready laugh. She made an imposing figure in evening dress, told the most outrageous stories, and had an insatiable appetite for gossip and presents. But Mr. Blagdon’s most particular friend was Mrs. Fred Corbett, an attractive free-lance, with a willowy form, and a pair of wonderful amber eyes; a glittering creature, all frivolity, extravagance, and selfishness, separated from her husband, (who, it was said, had some vague occupation in the Argentine,) and Connie Rashleigh’s _chère amie_. When Hugo arrived at Monte Carlo, he found the two ladies already installed at the Hermitage, the Baron and the Slaters were at the Paris. The great man was naturally hailed with sincere and fervent joy, and, for his part, he was not indifferent to the adulation of his little court; he enjoyed listening to their spicy gossip, delicate and highly seasoned flatteries, whilst he steeped himself in sunshine and luxury. He gave his circle dinners and luncheons, yes and loans; lavished flowers and attentions on his sister and Lola Corbett, and was altogether in unusual good-humour, and as the guests put it, ‘great form.’ By the end of a fortnight, Monte and his associates had begun to pall on Blagdon; even the rooms had lost their fascination. The Baron had bet him a hundred pounds on pigeon-shooting--and won. Foxy Slater had put him on an outsider and let him in heavily, and the Slaters and Connie talked racing or roulette by the hour, and bored him to death. As for Lola, she made awful play with her eyes, said poisonous things of other women, and was losing her looks! It was just at this critical period, that Letty Glyn was once more introduced to his attention. A casual remark from an utter stranger, threw, so to speak, this beautiful, innocent, unhappy girl, into Blagdon’s arms.