“You open the pack and shuffle!”
Manne took up the pack and shuffled slowly, almost indifferently. Stellan sat down opposite him.
“We must avoid misunderstandings,” he said. “The two is lowest and the ace highest, isn’t that so?”
“Good!”
With a gesture indicative of long practice Manne spread the cards out fan-like on the polished surface of the mahogany table:
“You draw first, as I shuffled.”
Stellan’s eyes looked searchingly at the fan for the marked card. No, he could not see it. He must gain time. He opened his cigarette case:
“Let us smoke a cigarette together, before we draw. It will be the most exquisite cigarette we ever smoked together. A cigarette with Fate....”
“All right!”
The cigarettes were finished. Stellan had to draw. Now he saw the ace on the extreme right. The little mark on the back of the card was noticeable in a tiny reflection from the lamp. Stellan had a feeling of being lifted off the floor, of soaring. But he did not dare to draw the ace at once. That would have looked too strange. He had to minimize the risk.