Then suddenly ... woof! his system went all to pieces.
CHAPTER THREE
THE SMILES AND FROWNS OF FORTUNE
1.
“I SAY, Margot, I think I’ll go to the Casino to-night.”
The girl looked at him in surprise. It had been his habit after supper to light his pipe and read until bedtime, or else work at his eternal permanencies. She had enjoyed these quiet evenings in the glow of the shaded lamp, bending over a bit of embroidery, listening to the puff of his pipe, and the rustle of his Daily Mail.
“I didn’t make the ‘necessary’ to-day,—only a couple of louis. The Rooms were so squalid I got a beast of a headache, and had to take a walk on the hill. I’ll get that extra win this evening.”
“Oh, please don’t go. Something tells me if you do you’ll be unlucky.”
“Nonsense. It’s not a question of luck. My system is misfortune proof. Luck or no luck it will win. If you are lonely, why don’t you go to the cinema, and amuse yourself?”
But Margot did not want to go out, so with a last glance at her sweet face under its coils of gold he left the room.
“Good little sort,” he thought. “I’m really getting very fond of her.”