In old days he
did nothing but lose, lose."
Mary glanced at the person indicated--a tall man in evening dress, whose
features would have been agreeable if it had not been for a black patch
over one eye and, on the same side of the head, a black pad over the
ear, fastened on by a thin elastic cord. Then she glanced away again,
feeling faintly sick. "No, I can't follow him," she said. "Not to win a
thousand pounds."
The lady with the pretty name smiled her sad, tired little smile. "You
must not turn pale for so small a thing," she laughed. "There are a
hundred people in these rooms to-night far stranger than he. I could
tell you things! But see, three Germans are going from the table in
front of us. When three Germans move, they leave much room. Keep close
to me; that is all you need do."
Mary obeyed in silence. She was grateful to her guide, yet somehow she
was unable to like her as well as at first. Fragile as Madame d'Ambre
appeared, she must have had a metallic strength of will, if not of
muscle, for quietly yet relentlessly she insinuated herself in front of
other people grouped round the table. Mary would have retreated,
abashed, if she had not feared to hurt her new friend's feelings; but
rather than be ungracious, she clung, soon finding herself wedged behind
a chair and in front of two German ladies.
VIII
"It is a triumph to seize an advantage from a German!" whispered the
Frenchwoman, beginning to look flushed and expectant.
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