“Why should he be careful?”
“Because the Casino folks ain’t goin’ to stand that sort o’ thing indefinitely. They’re gettin’ scared; and believe me, when they get scared they’ll get desperate. It stands to reason, they ain’t goin’ to let themselves be ruined if they can help it. The old fellow seems to have some way of spotting a winner, or getting so close to it he breaks even. It’s plain now it ain’t all accident. Well, if he can make fifty thousand a day he can just as well make two hundred thousand ... and then let him look out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why, if he went on, they’d just have to close their doors. Not only the Casino would be ruined but the Principality. D’ye think they’re goin’ to stand for that?”
“They could expel him.”
“What good would that do? He could put some one else on. No, the only way would be to suppress both him and his system; and believe me, they won’t stick at half measures to do it. I don’t say as they’ll stoop to crime; but there’s men in their pay as ain’t so scrupulous. There’s the existence of the whole community at stake. Accidents can happen. What’s a man’s life compared with the ruin of twenty thousand people? Believe me, the professor’s playin’ a dangerous game.”
Hugh left Mr. Gimp sitting on one of the side benches still sourly taking down the hated numbers. He mooned round the rooms, thinking more of Mrs. Belmire than of the play. She had called him naïve; that had hurt his vanity. Was he naïve?
Mrs. Belmire had urged him to go on gambling, but he had baulked. Of course, she thought he had plenty of money, and that his winnings at roulette meant little to him. On the contrary they meant so much to him that he was determined to hold on to them at all costs. Of his fifty-five thousand five had already melted away. He had loaned her two and had spent another two on clothes. Perhaps it was the lesson that poverty had taught him in his youth, perhaps it was due to his Scottish ancestry, but he had a curious streak of prudence in him. He had deposited fifty thousand francs in the bank and was determined not to touch it.
Since his last spectacular performance at the tables, a reaction had set in. He found himself almost in the same state of indifference that he had been before he had begun to play. His sudden passion for gambling seemed to have spent itself, and he wondered how he could ever have been so obsessed.
Fifty thousand francs! Yes, he had been miraculously lucky. It seemed like providence. He would buy a car and a cottage, and spend his spare time in painting. As for Mrs. Belmire, he would tell her just how matters stood. But not just yet. Perhaps he would allow her to educate him a little first. No more roulette though; not even for tobacco money. No opportunities, however good, would tempt him. Confound Mrs. Belmire! She had said that she was dining that evening with Paul Vulning. She had made a point of telling him about it, he believed.