With a thrill of genuine distress the lawyer asked himself whether she
had not, in very truth, already become a confirmed gambler. It was with
an assured, familiar gesture that Sylvia placed her money on the green
cloth, and then with what intelligent knowledge she followed the
operations of the Banker!
He watched her when her fifty francs were swept away, and noted the calm
manner with which she immediately took five louis from her pile, and
pushed them, with her little rake, well on to the table.
But before the dealer of the cards had spoken the fateful words: "_Le jeu
est fait. Rien ne va plus!_" Mrs. Bailey uttered an exclamation under her
breath, and hurriedly rose from her chair.
She had suddenly seen Chester--seen his eyes fixed on her with a
perplexed, angry look in them, and the look had made her wince.
Forgetting that she still had a stake on the green cloth, she turned away
from the table and began making her way round the edge of the circle.
For a moment Chester lost sight of her--there were so many people round
the table. He went on staring, hardly knowing what he was doing, at the
four pounds she had left on the green cloth.
Pages:
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304