"Togezzer, madame, you and I," said the King, with an air of homage, "if you please. I can see you play well."
"Oh, sir!" said Madame, for the third time hoisting the ensign of the rose. "How can you possibly know that?"
"Infallible signs, milady," said the King, laughing. "Trust an old soldier to read the signs. First, your ears, if I may say so. They have shape and position, just like my own. That means a well-balanced mind. And that dainty head, c'est magnifique! What intellect behind that forehead! Now give me your hand—the left one."
Milady gave the King a much bejewelled paw.
"Ouf!" said he, "what ambition! You will never hesitate to call sans atout. The heart-line is very good, also. There will be no other partner for Ferdinand. Schalk can have whom he pleases."
It pleased Baron von Schalk to choose her Royal Highness, and a very interesting game began.
"We must take care, milady," said Ferdinand the Twelfth, "we simple children of nature. I expect they will cheat us horribly. Schalk has very little in the way of a conscience, and nothing delights Sonia so much as to overreach a confiding parent."
As he spoke it pleased this simple child of nature to revoke in a very flagrant and palpable manner.
"No diamonds, partner?" said Mrs. Arbuthnot.
"None whatever," said the King, blandly. "I think a small deuce will take that trick, eh, Schalk?"