He did so, and then continued to sit moodily staring at the lamp. He began to fidget restlessly. Finally he said:
“I don’t feel a bit sleepy. I’ll just go back to the Casino and watch awhile.”
Already, having money in his pocket, he began to feel better. As he climbed the long hill, he knew quite well what he was going to do. Even as he entered the “Hall of Light” he was thinking:
“The pair played me a scurvy trick to-night. It owes me a good turn now.”
Going to the same table he laid a thousand francs on pair. He lost.... He was becoming callous. These flimsy bits of paper no longer represented real money. He threw the second of them on pair. If he lost, what matter! He would then be finished, purged clean, cured of gambling forever. A good job too. Let him lose.... He won. He saw them lay a thousand franc counter beside his bill. He looked at the two contemptuously. With a nod to the croupier he left them there for the next spin. He even strolled away a little and watched the play at the neighbouring table. A curious and thrilling sensation this,—to know that your fate is being decided behind your back. Looking round, as if casually, he saw that the ball had dropped and that they were not raking in his money. Then he saw them add to it two other counters of a thousand each. With a hand that trembled a little he took up four thousand francs and went home.
The lights were joyous again, the place adorable. So he thought, as he hurried to their quiet room. Softly he replaced the two thousand francs in the envelope. He listened again to her breathing. Once more he peeped through the curtain. Her face was like that of a tired, fevered child. He felt a curious surge of affection for her, a warmth that was nigh to tenderness. With a happy sense of her nearness, he sought his own bed and immediately fell asleep.
3.
On rising next morning, he found she had set the table for breakfast, but the envelope was gone.
“I’m going away,” she told him. “I’ll do anything you ask. I don’t want to be a bother to you.”
“Don’t think I want to be rid of you. Still you must see that, all things considered, it will really be for the best.”