The
air with which the silver cover was taken off and the dish shown to Mary
made her feel there was nothing she could do to show her appreciation,
without disappointing the man, unless she bent down and kissed the egg
passionately. Her smile seemed inadequate, and she ate with a worried
fear of seeming ungrateful, especially as she was impelled to hurry,
lest those people in front of the Casino should take all the places at
the tables. She wanted to sit down to gamble, for the strenuous game she
had played last night, with many stakes, would be impossible when
stretching over people's heads.
By half-past nine she was in the crowd, all her money, with the
exception of two hundred pounds she had put by, crushed into her big
beaded hand-bag. She remembered how at Aberdeen the night she went to
the theatre people stood like this, patiently waiting for the pit-door
to open. What did she not remember about that, her first and only visit
to a theatre?
At last the Casino doors yawned, as if they disliked waking up. The
procession rolled toward them, like a determined and vigorous python.
Mary was carried ahead with the rush. She had forgotten that she ought
to have renewed her ticket, but fortunately she was not asked for it;
and as she had come without a wrap, there was nothing to turn her aside
from the rooms.
Once across the threshold of the big Salle Schmidt, the struggle began.
It was not only the young and agile who raced each other to the tables.
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