CASINO ROYALE by Ian Fleming

Bond smiled. ‘That envelope was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. I thought I was really finished. It wasn’t at all a pleasant feeling. Talk about a friend in need. One day I’ll try and return the compliment.’

He rose. ‘I’ll just go over to the hotel and put this away,’ he said, tapping his pocket. ‘I don’t like wandering around with Le Chiffre’s death-warrant on me. He might get ideas. Then I’d like to celebrate a bit. What do you think?’

He turned to Vesper. She had hardly said a word since the end of the game.

‘Shall we have a glass of champagne in the night-club before we go to bed? It’s called the Roi Galant. You get to it through the public rooms. It looks quite cheerful.’

‘I think I’d love to,’ said Vesper. ‘I’ll tidy up while you put your winnings away. I’ll meet you in the entrance hall.’

‘What about you, Felix?’ Bond hoped he could be alone with Vesper.

Leiter looked at him and read his mind.

‘I’d rather take a little rest before breakfast,’ he said. ‘It’s been quite a day and I expect Paris will want me to do a bit of mopping-up tomorrow. There are several loose ends you won’t have to worry about. I shall. I’ll walk over to the hotel with you. Might as well convoy the treasure ship right into port.’

They strolled over through the shadows cast by the full moon. Both had their hands on their guns. It was three o’clock in the morning, but there were several people about and the courtyard of the Casino was still lined with motorcars.

The short walk was uneventful.

At the hotel, Leiter insisted on accompanying Bond to his room. It was as Bond had left it six hours before.

‘No reception committee,’ observed Leiter, ‘but I wouldn’t put it past them to try a last throw. Do you think I ought to stay up and keep you two company?’

‘You get your sleep,’ said Bond. ‘Don’t worry about us. They won’t be interested in me without the money and I’ve got an idea for looking after that. Thanks for all you’ve done. I hope we get on a job again one day.’

‘Suits me,’ said Leiter, ‘so long as you can draw a nine when it’s needed – and bring Vesper along with you,’ he added dryly. He went out and closed the door.

Bond turned back to the friendliness of his room.

After the crowded arena of the big table and the nervous strain of the three hours’ play, he was glad to be alone for a moment and be welcomed by his pyjamas on the bed and his hairbrushes on the dressing-table. He went into the bathroom and dashed cold water over his face and gargled with a sharp mouthwash. He felt the bruises on the back of his head and on his right shoulder. He reflected cheerfully how narrowly he had twice that day escaped being murdered. Would he have to sit up all that night and wait for them to come again, or was Le Chiffre even now on his way to Le Havre or Bordeaux to pick up a boat for some corner of the world where he could escape the eyes and the guns of SMERSH?

Bond shrugged his shoulders. Sufficient unto that day had been its evil. He gazed for a moment into the mirror and wondered about Vesper’s morals. He wanted her cold and arrogant body. He wanted to see tears and desire in her remote blue eyes and to take the ropes of her black hair in his hands and bend her long body back under his. Bond’s eyes narrowed and his face in the mirror looked back at him with hunger.

He turned away and took out his pocket the cheque for forty million francs. He folded this very small. Then he opened the door and looked up and down the corridor. He left the door wide open and with his ears cocked for footsteps or the sound of the lift, he set to work with a small screwdriver.

Five minutes later he gave a last-minute survey to his handiwork, put some fresh cigarettes in his case, closed and locked the door and went off down the corridor and across the hall and out into the moonlight.

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