All these horrors aroused his selfish instincts, causing him to take fresh delight in his own situation. The world had been plunged into a bloody madness. East and west men were rushing about like wild beasts, while he remained quietly beside the most smiling of seas, with love and desire filling his life, which had been so empty before, and awakening anew the ardor and enthusiasm of youth. At the very hour when thousands of human beings were dying in crowds, and the whole villages were being swept from the surface of the earth, he was living under the sway of a woman, and finding his servitude very sweet.
One afternoon, in the bar of the private room, Alicia spoke to him with an air of resolution. She must play big stakes. She was tired of "working" on small capital, and gaining small returns. Besides, she scorned the Casino with its limited bets, its roulette and trente et quarante, almost mechanical games in which you cannot see the banker sitting opposite, but instead mere employees.
"All that gives you the impression of struggling with a formidable machine, that functions monotonously, with no imagination, no soul. I must play baccarat."
She had gotten her thirty thousand francs together once more: either enormous winnings or nothing! She preferred to lose everything and end it once for all at a single stroke.
"To-night in the Sporting Club. Don't say no: I need you. I have a feeling that this is going to be the decisive night for me—and perhaps for you. Sit opposite me so that I can see you. Remember that on the lucky afternoons you were near me. You will bring me luck. Don't shake your head; you will bring me luck, I tell you."
And she said it with such conviction, that Michael could no longer withhold his consent.
"Come, you will gain by it: I promise you. You will gain by it, no matter what the result. If they clean me out, to-morrow we will go for a walk in the Monaco Gardens, as we did before. And if I win—if I win,—all you want!..."
She did not need to say any more. The look in her eye and her smile filled Michael with enthusiasm. He would see her at the Club.
That night, Castro and Toledo were surprised at seeing the Prince sit down at the table dressed, like themselves, in a Tuxedo.
"The Boss isn't staying home," said Atilio to the Colonel. "He too is going to the opera."