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'The third Bulgar aiting behind the Splendide to pick his two friends up When he sahat had happened, he assuments of the unexploded red bomb and he was confronted with them When he saw that they had been tricked and that his two friends were meant to be murdered with you, he started to talk I expect he's still talking now But there's nothing to link all this with Le Chiffre They were given the job by souards, and Le Chiffre's na to the one who survived'

She finished her story just as the waiters arrived with the caviar, afinely chopped onion and grated hard-boiled egg, the white in one dish and the yoke in another

The caviar was heaped on to their plates and they ate for a time in silence

After a while Bond said: 'It's very satisfactory to be a corpse who changes places with hishoist with their own petard Mathis must be very pleased with the day's work - five of the opposition neutralized in twenty-four hours,' and he told her how the Muntzes had been confounded

'Incidentally,' he asked, 'how did you coet mixed up in this affair? What section are you in?'

'I'm personal assistant to Head of S' said Vesper 'As it was his plan, he wanted his section to have a hand in the operation and he asked M if I could go It seeh he told iven a wo continued: 'I had to ot a friend who is a vendeuse with Dior and soed to borrow , otherwise I couldn't possibly have coesture towards the rooh they didn't knohat the job was All they kneas that I was to ith a Double O Of course you're our heroes I was enchanted'

Bond frowned 'It's not difficult to get a Double O number if you're prepared to kill people,' he said 'That's all theto be particularly proud of I've got the corpses of a Japanese cipher expert in New York and a Norwegian double agent in Stockhol a Double 0 Probably quite decent people They just got caught up in the gale of the world like that Yugoslav that Tito bu business but if it's one's profession, one does what one's told How do you like the grated egg with your caviar?'

'It's a wonderful co my dinner It seems a shame' She stopped, warned by a cold look in Bond's eye

'If it wasn't for the job, ouldn't be here,' he said

Suddenly he regretted the intimacy of their dinner and of their talk He felt he had said toorelationship had become confused

'Let's consider what has to be done,' he said in ato try and do and how you can help Which isn't very much I'm afraid,' he added

'Now these are the basic facts' He proceeded to sketch out the plan and enuencies which faced the of the second course and then as they ate the delicious food, Bond continued

She listened to hihly deflated by his harshness, while ad to herself that she should have paidof Head of S

'He's a dedicated n to be any fun He thinks of nothing but the job on hand and, while it's on, he's absolute hell to work for But he's an expert and there aren't ood-looking chap, but don't fall for hiood luck and don't get hurt'

All this had been soe and she was pleased when she felt she attracted and interested him, as she knew intuitively that she did Then at a hint that they were finding pleasure together, a hint that was only the first words of a conventional phrase, he had suddenly turned to ice and had brutally veered away as if warave aand concentrated with all her attention on what he was saying She would not ain

'and the ainst hi just how baccarat is played

'It's ainst the banker and the player are ainst either can be decisive and 'break the bank', or break the players

'Tonight, Le Chiffre, we know, has bought the baccarat bank froh tables here He paid a million francs for it and his capital has been reduced to twenty-four million I have about the same There will be ten players, I expect, and we sit round the banker at a kidney-shaped table