I was going on with my calculations when Clairmont brought me a note. It was from Irene, and contained a tender invitation to breakfast with her. I did not know that she was in Genoa, and the news gave me very great pleasure. I locked up my money, dressed in haste, and started out to see her. I found her in good and well-furnished rooms, and her old father, Count Rinaldi, embraced me with tears of joy.
After the ordinary compliments had been passed, the old man proceeded to congratulate me on my winnings of the night before.
“Three thousand sequins!” he exclaimed, “that is a grand haul indeed.”
“Quite so.”
“The funny part of it is that the man who keeps the bag is in the pay of the others.”
“What strikes you as funny in that?”
“Why, he gained half without any risk, otherwise he would not have been likely to have entered into an agreement with you.”
“You think, then, that it was a case of connivance?”
“Everybody says so; indeed what else could it be? The rascal has made his fortune without running any risk. All the Greeks in Genoa are applauding him and you.”
“As the greater rascal of the two?”