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58 Gem Trader
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know about turquoises, and who, incidentally, was instrumental in setting before my fascinated gaze a romance of the haute monde which is a good setting for turquoises and their lore.
I
went to Paris, the gem centre of the world, when I was twenty, in order
to learn more about my trade. One of the men under whose tutelage I
came was worldly old Poldar, a connoisseur of gems and feminine beauty.
He was a friend of my family in Vienna, and had promised to "keep an
eye on the boy" while I was in Paris. Thus, whenever he himself had the
desire to bask in the light of flashing gems and lovely eyes amidst
luxurious surroundings, he put a liberal interpretation on his promise
and took me along, too, with the ostensible purpose of showing me the
great diversity of jewels in their proper milieu.
One
place in particular we used to frequent whenever my slender means
allowed. This was the Grand Café on the Boulevard des Italiens, which
in the early 'nineties was a favourite haunt, not only because of the
excellent food and wines, but also because of the wonderful gypsy band
that played there every night. If you were in Paris at that time you
will remember the leader of that band, a dashing Hungarian with what
the novelettes call "magnetic" eyes. He was a great ladies' man and had
been the cause of many scandals, but no affair caused such excitement
among the habitués of the Grand Café as the case of Madame "X",
which played itself out—before the eyes of those in the know—quite in
the best style of refined melodrama.
In this unfortunate affair I, of course, played the part of
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