Mrs.Schomberg gave him an inclination of her sallow head and incontinently sat down behind a sort of raised counter, facing the door, with a mirror and rows of bottles at her back.

Her hair was very elaborately done with two ringlets on the left side of her scraggy neck; her dress was of silk, and she had come on duty for the afternoon.

For some reason or other Schomberg exacted this from her, though she added nothing to the fascinations of the place.

She sat there in the smoke and noise, like an enthroned idol, smiling stupidly over the billiards from time to time, speaking to no one, and no one speaking to her.

Schomberg himself took no more interest in her than may be implied in a sudden and totally unmotived scowl.