It was an odd, rather an uncomfortable thought.
The Commissioner went to a drawer and pulled out from it a portfolio
filled with loose pieces of paper.
"Malfait? Malfait? Malfait?" he muttered interrogatively to himself. And
at last he found what he was looking for. It was a large sheet, on which
was inscribed in large round letters "Pension Malfait." There were many
close lines of writing under the words. He looked down and read through
all that was there.
"The Pension Malfait has a good reputation!" he exclaimed, in a relieved
tone. "I gather from what you say, Monsieur,"--he gave a quick shrewd
look at the Count--"that Madame and her friend did not play in a serious
sense at the Casino--I mean, there was no large sum of money in
question?"
Count Paul hesitated--but Sylvia thought that surely it were better to
tell the truth.
"Yes," she said, "my friend did play, and she played rather high. She
must have had a large sum of money in her possession when she left
Lacville, unless she lost it all on the last day. But I was in Paris,
and so I don't know what she did.
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