His idea in putting on money now was merely to "pay for his place,"
whence he did not mean to move as long as Mary stayed. Many other men
would be ready to snatch the chair the instant he abandoned it,
therefore he had no right to usurp the Casino's property without
payment. He had no small money with him, and to avoid the trouble of
changing notes with a croupier, he staked a hundred francs on red, the
colour of the number which Lord Dauntrey had just advised Mary to
choose.
As if she fully realized that her luck had failed her to-night, for
several spins she had been guided entirely by Lord Dauntrey. He was
directing her play according to his system, to which his faith still
desperately clung, though he now admitted to his friends that his own
capital was not big enough to test it fairly. His game was upon numbers,
columns, and dozens, all at the same time, increasing the stakes, as he
said, "with the bank's money," or, in other words, after a win. It was
therefore a loss following directly upon a win which was the worst enemy
of the system, and occasionally there came a long run of exactly this
alternation: win, loss, win, loss, win, loss. It happened so to-night,
greatly to his annoyance, as he hoped to interest Miss Grant in his
method. Dom Ferdinand was sulkily waiting for more remittances, and
amusing himself meanwhile by throwing about a few louis here and there,
undirected by his friend Lord Dauntrey. The Marquis de Casablanca had
stopped play entirely, perhaps in the hope of setting his patron a wise
example.
Pages:
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297