The next evening Tony took the keeper of the hell aside and told him that he was to be sure not to let him exceed £50; if he should lose that, Arrowsmith was not to accept his I.O.U. and on no condition to allow him to go on. They were playing chemin de fer and Tony's luck had been poor; when his turn came to take the bank and he was stretching out his hand for the box of cards Arrowsmith told him he had already reached his limit.
"Oh, that's all right, Arrowsmith. I only meant that to count if I'd already had a bank."
"Excuse me, Lord Clarehaven, but I never go back on my word. The agreement we came to was...."
"That's all right," Tony interrupted, impatiently. "Dorothy, lend me some money."
"No, no. You made a promise, and really you must stick to it."
"Dash it! I haven't had a single bank this evening."
"You should have thought of that before."
"But, my dear girl, our agreement was that I shouldn't lose more than two hundred pounds at a sitting. I've only lost fifty pounds to-night."
"If I lend you any more," she said, "I must break into the two thousand pounds, which you told me I was not to do on any account."
The other players, with heavy, doll-like faces, sat round the table, waiting until the argument stopped and the game could be resumed. The keeper of the hell was firm; so was Dorothy; and Clarehaven had to yield his turn to his neighbor.