“'I should advise you not to play much, Chetwynd,' he said; 'sometimes they play uncommonly high, and there are some fellows who have wonderful luck. Of course, on ordinary occasions, when the play is low, you could stake a few guineas there as well as elsewhere, but when really high play is on we small fish always stand out. All I can say is that I have never seen anything that savors of foul play in the smallest degree; but you understand how it is, if one man happens to have a big run of luck, there are always fellows who go about hinting that there is something wrong in it. However, it is a jolly place to drop into, and, of course there is no occasion to play always, and if one loses one is likely to win on the next race or on the next fight.'”
Accordingly that evening Mark met Boldero, whom he had once or twice before seen in Dick's company, and the three went together to the house in Buckingham Street. Boldero nodded to the doorkeeper as he went in, and they then proceeded upstairs and entered a handsome room, with comfortable sofas and chairs, on which a dozen men were seated, for the most part smoking. Several champagne bottles stood on the tables, and all who liked helped themselves. Boldero was known to several of those present, while two or three were also known to Dick. Boldero introduced them both to his friends. One of these was the Hon. John Emerson, a man of some five and thirty, with a languid air and a slight drawl.
“Glad to make your acquaintance, sir,” he said to Mark. “Have you been long in town?”
“Two or three months only,” Mark replied.
“Is this your first visit here?”
“Yes, this is my first visit to any place of the sort, but I thought that I should like to go the rounds before I went home again.”
“Quite so. Going to punt a few guineas, I suppose?”
“Yes, I suppose that is the right thing to do.”
“Well, everyone who comes is expected to do a little that way; there is no occasion to play high.”
“Oh, I should not like to do that,” Mark said innocently; “indeed, I know very little about cards.”