'I am glad of that,' said Madame de Nerval, 'very glad of that. You would not have been the man I had always heard of, and, _au reste_, the man I take you to be, if you had been a friend of milord's.' 'And yet you must be a friend of milord's, as you call him, and a very intimate friend too,' said Uffington. 'I saw him sitting next to you at the Cirque d'Eté last night, and paying you the most devoted attentions, and he is sufficiently at home here to be able to invite me to your house.' 'Ah,' said Madame de Nerval, with a shrug of her shoulders, 'that is quite a different thing. A woman is often compelled to be intimate with a man because it suits her purpose; in many instances we have not the option of taking or leaving, as is the case with men, and Lord Forestfield is _tant soit peu_ necessary to me at the present moment. You are smiling at my frankness, I see. I speak frankly because I had heard so much of you that I have always had a desire to see you, and now that we have met, I am not disappointed.' 'It is pleasant to have such a mark of your confidence,' said Uffington, with a smile; 'though I do not know what people have said of me, or what I can have done, that I should be so distinguished.' 'One word more before we find milord,' said Madame de Nerval: 'do you play cards?' Uffington's face brightened at once, and the look of _insouciance_ which it generally wore passed away; but his voice had lost nothing of its ordinary tone of weariness as he replied, 'Occasionally, when I am in the company of card-players.' 'Have you skill or luck, or both?' asked Madame de Nerval. 'Or neither? you might have asked,' said Uffington, with a short laugh, 'for that is often the condition of your inveterate gambler. For my part, I can hold my own with most men that I play with, and occasionally I am exceptionally lucky. Why do you ask?' 'Because a considerable amount of play goes on here,' said Madame de Nerval, 'and if you had objected to it I should have advised your withdrawing at once, before Lord Forestfield knew of your arrival.' 'You are really very good,' said Uffington, 'and I am more than grateful for your thoughtful kindness; but the fact is, that I want a little distraction just now, and I am glad to think that I shall find it at the card-table.' '_Allons_, then,' said Madame de Nerval, opening the door as she spoke. Uffington found himself in a large room, with several card-tables set out and occupied.