"Oh, yes, Henri. Father gave me this for you, but I did not like to disturb your reverie, or I would have given it to you before."
Taking the letter from her hand, Delapine opened it, and found that it contained 4,000 francs in notes.
They arrived at the Casino in good time so as to enable Delapine to secure a seat close to the roulette wheel. He motioned to Renée and Payot to sit next to him, while the rest of the party stood round behind his chair.
All the people looked at him in wonder, as his vacant gaze and general mien were so unearthly, so entirely different from those of the other players, that a thrill of mingled awe and expectancy seemed to come over the whole assembly.
Delapine slowly turned his head round, fixing his intense gaze on each person in turn round the table.
"Look, look at Delapine," said Riche, as he nudged Marcel. "Doesn't he remind you of a Bengal tiger lying in ambush and turning his head slowly round to watch the movements of his prey? Parbleu, but it makes me feel quite creepy. I can imagine him lashing his tail just before making a spring."
"He is merely watching the other players, but he hasn't staked a sou himself up till now."
Meanwhile Delapine continued passively to watch the play for about twenty minutes. At the end of that time he quietly took out of the envelope three bank notes of 100 francs each, and placed one on each of the three consecutive numbers 7, 28 and 12, while putting a 1,000 franc note on each of the squares, red, impair, and manque, and then rapidly turning his head concentrated his gaze on the little ball which had just fallen on to the larger wheel. The ball bobbed frantically about, and at length fell into No. 7.
"Sept, rouge, impair et manque," shouted the croupier, as he raked in Delapine's pieces on 28 and 12, and tossed seven notes of 500 frs. each on to No. 7, and 1,000 fr. notes on to "rouge," "impair," and "manque." Delapine's stake of 3,300 frs. was now increased by 6,300 frs.[21] Whispering a few words to Renée, telling her what numbers to back, and without troubling himself in the least about his own gains, he once more turned his attention to the little ball.
Renée immediately did as he had told her and placed the maximum allowed—180 frs.—on number 7, leaving the money with the gains added on each of the single chances, rouge, pair and manque.