Had I remained to reason with myself, I should never have entered that house, but fired by a determination to seek the truth, and to meet that woman face to face, I entered boldly and, without a word to the concierge, passed up to the second floor.
The house was, I discovered, like many in Paris, far more handsome within than without. The stairs leading to the flats were thickly carpeted and were illuminated by electricity, though, judging by the exterior, I had believed it to be a house of quite a fourth-rate class. When I rang at the door on the left a neat Parisian bonne in a muslin cap answered my summons.
"Madame Fournereau?" I inquired.
"Oui, madame," answered the woman, as she admitted me to the narrow but well-furnished entrance-hall. "Madame is expecting you, I believe. Will you please enter?"
I saw in an instant that I was mistaken for a guest, and quickly made up my mind to use this mistake to the best possible advantage.
My quick eyes noticed in the hall a number of men's hats and women's capes. From the room beyond came quite a babel of voices. I walked forward in wonderment, but next second knew the truth. The place was a private gambling-house. Madame's guests, a strange and motley crowd, came there to play games of hazard.
In the room I had entered was a roulette table, smaller than those at Monte Carlo, and around it were some twenty well-dressed men and women, all intent upon the game. Notes and gold were lying everywhere upon the numbers and the single chances, and the fact that no silver was there was sufficient testimony that high stakes were usual. The air was close and oppressive, for the windows were closed and heavily curtained, and above the sound of excited voices rose that well-known cry of the unhealthy-looking, pimply-faced croupier in crimped shirt front and greasy black:
"Messieurs, faites vos jeux!"
Advancing to the table, I stood there unnoticed in the crowd. Those who saw me enter undoubtedly believed me to be a gambler, like themselves, for it appeared as though madame's guests were drawn from various classes of society. Although the atmosphere was so stifling, I managed to remain cool, and affected to be interested in the game by tossing a louis upon the red.
I won. It is strange that carelessness at roulette invariably brings good fortune. I glanced about me, eager to discover madame herself, but saw neither her nor the barber whom I had followed to this place. At the end of the room there were, however, a pair of long sage-green curtains, and as one of the players rose from the table and passed between them, I saw that another gaming-room lay beyond, and that the gamblers were playing baccarat, the bank being held by a superior-looking old gentleman who was wearing the crimson ribbon of the Legion d'Honneur in the lapel of his dining-jacket.