the Countess. Satterthwaite accepts the croupier's decision. Quin commiserates with him and invites him to a supper party that night at a bohemian café called La Caveau, with candle light. Each guest is to bring the first person he sees to the supper party. Satterthwaite arrives with Elizabeth. Rudge arrives with the Countess while Quin brings the casino's croupier Pierre Vaucher. Vaucher tells the story of a jeweller who worked in Paris many years ago who, despite being engaged, fell for a half-starved girl and married her. His family disowned him, and over the next two years he realised what a mistake he had made, as the woman made his life a misery and left him. She reappeared two years later, dressed in rich clothes and fabulous jewels, and he asked if she was coming back to him. She left again and the man sank further into drunkenness, eventually saved by the discipline of the army during the First World War. The man eventually became a croupier at a casino and saw her, in a reduced state – as her jewels were paste replicas to his trained eye, and she was again on the edge of destitution. He passed another man's winnings to her. At this point in the story, the Countess jumps up and cries, "Why?" Vaucher smiles and replies that it was pity that made him do it. She offers to light his cigarette, using a spill to do so. She leaves and Vaucher realises that the spill is the fifty thousand franc note, her winnings and all she has in the world. Too proud to accept charity, she burnt it in front of his eyes. Vaucher follows her. Rudge realizes he does not understand the Countess and turns his attentions back to Elizabeth. Quin and Satterthwaite are satisfied. The Man from the Sea Mr Satterthwaite is on holiday on a Spanish island. He often goes to the garden of a villa called La Paz, which stands on a high cliff overlooking the sea. He loves the garden but the villa, which is shuttered and seems empty, intrigues him. After exchanging pleasantries with the gardener, Satterthwaite makes his way to the cliff edge and soon hears approaching footsteps. It is a young man in his eyes, a man of forty. The man says he expected to be alone. He tells Satterthwaite that he came here the previous night