“We’ll see later, my dear Colonel. At first I’ll try my luck alone.”
“Very well.”
Lula danced another tango and after a brief while the Colonel’s wife returned.
“You may come in,” she said.
The old kitchen-maids got up from their chairs and, crossing the corridor, entered a large room with three balcony windows. There were two tables, one of them with a roulette wheel and the other bare.
The three old women, the baroness, the colonel and his two daughters sat down before the roulette table, where the banker and the two payers were already seated.
“Faites vos jeux,” said the croupier with the impassivity of an automaton.
The white sphere danced around the wheel and before it came to a stop the croupier pronounced:
“Rien ne va plus!”
The two payers placed their rakes upon the cloth to prevent the laying of any further bets. “No more bets,” they repeated, at the same time, in a monotonous voice.