He also perceived that his slightest movements were
watched and commented upon. However he was a brave man; his
conscience did not reproach him in the least, and he was one of
those persons who, rather than wait for danger, provoke it.
So, with an almost defiant air, he seated himself beside a young
lady dressed in pink tulle, and began to laugh and chat with her.
He possessed a ready wit, and what is even better, tact; and for a
quarter of an hour astonished those around him by his brilliant
sallies. Champagne was flowing freely; and he drank four or five
glasses in quick succession. Was he really conscious of what he
was doing and saying? He subsequently declared that he was not,
that he acted under the influence of a sort of hallucination
similar to that produced by the inhalation of carbonic gas.
However, the guests did not linger long at the supper-table. "Let
us go back!" cried the old gentleman, who had insisted upon the
suspension of the game; "we are wasting a deal of precious time
here!"
Pascal rose with the others, and in his haste to enter the
adjoining room he jostled two men who were talking together near
the door. "So it is understood," said one of them.
"Yes, yes, leave it to me; I will act as executioner."
This word sent all Pascal's blood bounding to his heart. "Who is
to be executed?" he thought? "I am evidently to be the victim. But
what does it all mean?"
Meanwhile the players at the green table had changed places, and
Pascal found himself seated not on Ferdinand's right, but directly
opposite him, and between two men about his own age--one of them
being the person who had announced his intention of acting as
executioner.
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