The English | Page 8

and the King of Prussia
allowed me to keep it as a noble memorial of my kinsman."
"Yes," said an Englishman who was present, "but the coat-pocket is not
the place for a thing like that."
Schwerin made as if he did not understand, and this enabled me to take
his measure.

Lord Pembroke took possession of the lady, whom I did not think
worthy of being compared to Pauline. She was paler and shorter, and
utterly deficient in Pauline's noble air; besides, when she smiled it
spoiled her face, and this is a defect in a woman, to whom laughter
should always be becoming.
Lord Pembroke introduced us all to each other, and when he came to
me Castelbajac said he was delighted to see me again, although he
might easily have pretended not to know me under my name of
Seingalt.
We had a good English dinner, and afterwards the lady proposed a
game of faro. My lord never played, so the general consented to amuse
the company by holding the bank, and placed a hundred guineas and
several bank notes on the table. There might be a thousand guineas in
all. He then gave twenty counters to each punter, saying that every
counter was worth ten shillings. As I only staked gold against gold I
would not accept them. By the third deal Schwerin had lost his twenty
counters and asked for twenty more; but the banker told him he must
pay for them, and the self-styled field-marshal's nephew lapsed into
silence and played no more.
At the following deal Castelbajac was in the same position as his friend,
and being on my side he begged to be allowed to take ten pieces.
"You will bring me ill-luck," I said, coldly, warding off his hand; and
he went out to the garden, no doubt to swallow the affront he had
received. The lady said her husband had forgotten his pocketbook. An
hour afterwards the game came to an end, and I took my leave, after
inviting Lord Pembroke and the rest of the company to dine with me
the next day.
I got home at eleven o'clock without meeting any highwaymen as I had
expected, indeed I had put up six guineas in a small purse for their
special use and benefit. I woke up my cook to tell him that the next day
I should have twelve people to dinner, and that I hoped he would do me
honour. I found a letter from Madame Cornelis on my table telling me
that she and her daughter would drive with me on the following Sunday,

and that we could go and see the boarding-school she had selected.
Next day Lord Pembroke and the fair Frenchwoman were the first to
arrive. They drove in a carriage with two rather uncomfortable seats,
but this discomfort is favourable to love. The Gascon and the Prussian
were the last to come.
We sat down to table at two and left it at four, ail of us well pleased
with the cook, and still more so with the wine merchant; for though we
had emptied forty bottles of wine, not one of us was at all intoxicated.
After coffee had been served the general invited us all to sup with him,
and Madame Castelbajac begged me to hold a bank. I did not wait to be
pressed but placed a thousand guineas on the table, and as I had no
counters of any kind I warned the company that I would only play gold
against gold, and that I should stop playing whenever I thought fit.
Before the game began the two counts paid their losses of the day
before to the general in bank notes, which he begged me to change. I
also changed two other notes presented to me by the same gentleman,
and put them all under my snuff-box. Play began. I had no croupier, so
I was obliged to deal slowly and keep an eye on the two counts, whose
method of play was very questionable. At last both of them were dried
up, and Castelbajac gave me a bill of exchange for two hundred guineas,
begging me to discount it for him.
"I know nothing about business," I replied.
An Englishman took the bill, and after a careful examination said he
neither knew the drawer, the accepter, nor the backer.
"I am the backer," said Castelbajac, "and that ought to be enough, I
think."
Everybody laughed, besides myself, and I gave it him back courteously,
saying politely that he could get it discounted on 'Change the next day.
He got up in a bad temper, and left the room, murmuring some insolent
expressions. Schwering followed him.

After these two worthy gentlemen had left us, I went on dealing till the