'Are you happy, monsieur?' he asked.
'Very happy,' said Bond. 'The music is beautiful. Let's hear the rest of it.'
Mathis grinned and switched the radio on again. 'Now to business,' he
said. 'You will be pleased with your assistant your Number Two. She is very
beautiful, and she is also a radio expert. We will pretend that she works with
me. We're both staying in the hotel. So my "assistant" will he near you.' He
smiled. 'Day... or night.'
But Bond did not smile back at him.
'Why did they send me a woman?' he said, angrily. 'This isn't a game!'
'Relax, James,' said Mathis. 'She's good at her job and she speaks
French very well. She will meet you at the Casino. You are the rich son of a
millionaire. It's normal for you to find a pretty girl to... uh... share your winnings
with.'
'Are there any other surprises?' asked Bond.
'Not really,' replied Mathis. 'Le Chiffre's villa is about sixteen kilometres
down the coast road. He has got two guards with him. They speak to each
other in Bulgarian.'
'Anything else?' asked Bond.
'Come to the Hermitage Bar before lunch,' said Mathis. 'And meet your
Number Two. Ask her to dinner, then she can come to the Casino with you
tonight. I'll be there, but you probably won't see me. Oh, and there's an
American called Felix Leiter. He's staying here. He's the CIA man.'
After Mathis left, Bond sat back at the window. He was not happy. The
Russians knew that he was here. They might try to kill him.
And then there was the problem of the girl. Bond did not like working
with women.