The Black Robe | Page 6

the stage, instead
of going to dinner. We found these fair creatures drinking Madeira as a
whet to their appetites. Among the men, there were two who struck me
as the most finished and complete blackguards whom I had ever met
with in all my experience, at home and abroad. One, with a brown face
and a broken nose, was presented to us by the title of "Commander,"
and was described as a person of great wealth and distinction in Peru,
traveling for amusement. The other wore a military uniform and
decorations, and was spoken of as "the General." A bold bullying
manner, a fat sodden face, little leering eyes, and greasy-looking hands,
made this man so repellent to me that I privately longed to kick him.
Romayne had evidently been announced, before our arrival, as a landed
gentleman with a large income. Men and women vied in servile
attentions to him. When we went into the dining-room, the fascinating
creature who sat next to him held her fan before her face, and so made
a private interview of it between the rich Englishman and herself. With
regard to the dinner, I shall only report that it justified Captain
Peterkin's boast, in some degree at least. The wine was good, and the
conversation became gay to the verge of indelicacy. Usually the most
temperate of men, Romayne was tempted by his neighbors into
drinking freely. I was unfortunately seated at the opposite extremity of
the table, and I had no opportunity of warning him.
The dinner reached its conclusion, and we all returned together, on the
foreign plan, to coffee and cigars in the drawing-room. The women
smoked, and drank liqueurs as well as coffee, with the men. One of
them went to the piano, and a little impromptu ball followed, the ladies
dancing with their cigarettes in their mouths. Keeping my eyes and ears
on the alert, I saw an innocent-looking table, with a surface of
rosewood, suddenly develop a substance of green cloth. At the same
time, a neat little roulette-table made its appearance from a hiding-place
in a sofa. Passing near the venerable landlady, I heard her ask the
servant, in a whisper, "if the dogs were loose?" After what I had
observed, I could only conclude that the dogs were used as a patrol, to
give the alarm in case of a descent of the police. It was plainly high
time to thank Captain Peterkin for his hospitality, and to take our leave.

"We have had enough of this," I whispered to Romayne in English.
"Let us go."
In these days it is a delusion to suppose that you can speak
confidentially in the English language, when French people are within
hearing. One of the ladies asked Romayne, tenderly, if he was tired of
her already. Another reminded him that it was raining heavily (as we
could all hear), and suggested waiting until it cleared up. The hideous
General waved his greasy hand in the direction of the card table, and
said, "The game is waiting for us."
Romayne was excited, but not stupefied, by the wine he had drunk. He
answered, discreetly enough, "I must beg you to excuse me; I am a
poor card player."
The General suddenly looked grave. "You are speaking, sir, under a
strange misapprehension," he said. "Our game is
lansquenet--essentially a game of chance. With luck, the poorest player
is a match for the whole table."
Romayne persisted in his refusal. As a matter of course, I supported
him, with all needful care to avoid giving offense. The General took
offense, nevertheless. He crossed his arms on his breast, and looked at
us fiercely.
"Does this mean, gentlemen, that you distrust the company?" he asked.
The broken-nosed Commander, hearing the question, immediately
joined us, in the interests of peace--bearing with him the elements of
persuasion, under the form of a lady on his arm.
The lady stepped briskly forward, and tapped the General on the
shoulder with her fan. "I am one of the company," she said, "and I am
sure Mr. Romayne doesn't distrust me." She turned to Romayne with
her most irresistible smile. "A gentleman always plays cards," she
resumed, "when he has a lady for a partner. Let us join our interests at
the table--and, dear Mr. Romayne, don't risk too much!" She put her
pretty little purse into his hand, and looked as if she had been in love
with him for half her lifetime.
The fatal influence of the sex, assisted by wine, produced the inevitable
result. Romayne allowed himself to be led to the card table. For a
moment the General delayed the beginning of the game. After what had
happened, it was necessary that he should assert the strict sense of
justice that was