Part 4 (Pages 250-344) Summary

Part 4 begins during Francis' second year at Oxford. In a letter to Uncle Jack, Francis writes about his new apartment off campus and the people who live in his building, particularly one Basil Buys-Bozzaris. Basil invites Francis to join the card games he hosts, and for want of anything better, Francis goes. He notices particularly a man named Freemantle who has the gambler's eye and ends the evening owing Basil money. Francis writes that he will continue to go to these card games because his interest is piqued. Why does Basil have one Dutch name as well as his genuine Belgian one, and is Charles Freemantle really as bent on ruin as he seems to be?

One evening, not long after the events of his letter to Uncle Jack, Francis is working when a girl bursts into his room...