I, too, remember her visit. She left me in London and went to the Riviera for a couple of months, and on her return was constantly bewailing her penury. This, then, was the secret of it. She had never revealed to me the truth.
"And you think that I shall be stricken with the prevalent epidemic?" I inquired.
"I hope not," he answered quickly. "But, after all, the temptation is utterly irresistible. It is sad, indeed, that here, in this corner of God's earth, which He has marked as the nearest approach to Paradise created, should be allowed to flaunt all the vices which render the world horrible. Monte Carlo is the one blot upon the Riviera. I'm a gambler—I make no secret of it, because I find resistance impossible while I have money in my pocket—nevertheless, much as I like a fling here each winter, I would gladly welcome the closing of the Casino. It has been well said that those red-carpeted steps and the wide doors opposite form the entrance-gate to hell."
I sighed, glancing over to the flight of steps opposite, where all sorts of women, wintering among temptations in summer toilettes, were passing up and down. He was possessed of common sense, and spoke the truth. Inside those Rooms the perspiring and perfumed crowds were fluttering round the tables as moths round a candle, going headlong to ruin, both moral and financial.
"Yes," I observed reflectively, "I suppose you're right. Thousands have been ruined within that place."
"And thousands have ended by committing suicide," he added. "The average number of suicides within this tiny Principality of Monaco is more than two a day!"
"More than two a day!" I exclaimed incredulously.
"Yes. Of course, the authorities bribe the Press to hush it all up, but the authentic figures were published not long ago. The Administrator of the Casino finds it cheaper to bury a corpse than to pay a ruined gambler's fare to St. Petersburg, London, or New York. That's why the poor devils who are cleaned out find the much-talked-of viatique so difficult to obtain. Human life is held very cheap here, I can tell you."
"Oh, don't talk like that!" I protested. "You make one feel quite nervous. Do you mean that murder is often committed?"
"Well—not exactly that. But one must always remember that here, mixing with the best people of Europe, are the very scum of the world, both male and female. Although they dress elegantly, live well, play boldly, and give themselves airs and false titles of nobility, and wear decorations to which they are not entitled, they are a very queer and unscrupulous crowd, I can assure you."