After dinner, with the exception of Cogit, who was busied in compounding some wonderful liquid for the future refreshment7, they sat down to écarté. Without having exchanged a word upon the subject, there seemed a general understanding among all the parties that to-night was to be a pitched battle, and they began at once, briskly. Yet, in spite of their universal determination, midnight arrived without anything decisive. Another hour passed over, and then Tom Cogit kept touching8 the Baron’s elbow and whispering in a voice which everybody could understand. All this meant that supper was ready. It was brought into the room.
Gaming has one advantage, it gives you an appetite; that is to say, so long as you have a chance remaining. The Duke had thousands; for at present his resources were unimpaired, and he was exhausted9 by the constant attention and anxiety of five hours. He passed over the delicacies10 and went to the side-table, and began cutting himself some cold roast beef. Tom Cogit ran up, not to his Grace, but to the Baron, to announce the shocking fact that the Duke of St. James was enduring great trouble; and then the Baron asked his Grace to permit Mr. Cogit to serve him. Our hero devoured11 — we use the word advisedly, as fools say in the House of Commons — he devoured the roast beef, and rejecting the Hermitage with disgust, asked for porter.
They set to again fresh as eagles. At six o’clock accounts were so complicated that they stopped to make up their books. Each played with his memoranda12 and pencil at his side. Nothing fatal had yet happened. The Duke owed Lord Dice about five thousand pounds, and Temple Grace owed him as many hundreds. Lord Castlefort also was his debtor13 to the tune14 of seven hundred and fifty, and the Baron was in his books, but slightly. Every half-hour they had a new pack of cards, and threw the used one on the floor. All this time Tom Cogit did nothing but snuff the candles, stir the fire, bring them a new pack, and occasionally make a tumbler for them. At eight o’clock the Duke’s situation was worsened. The run was greatly against him, and perhaps his losses were doubled. He pulled up again the next hour or two; but nevertheless, at ten o’clock, owed everyone something. No one offered to give over; and everyone, perhaps, felt that his object was not obtained. They made their toilets and went down-stairs to breakfast. In the meantime the shutters15 were opened, the room aired, and in less than an hour they were at it again.
They played till dinner-time without intermission; and though the Duke made some desperate efforts, and some successful ones, his losses were, nevertheless, trebled. Yet he ate an excellent dinner and was not at all depressed16; because the more he lost, the more his courage and his resources seemed to expand. At first he had limited himself to ten thousand; after breakfast it was to have been twenty thousand; then thirty thousand was the ultimatum17; and now he dismissed all thoughts of limits from his mind, and was determined18 to risk or gain everything.
At midnight, he had lost forty-eight thousand pounds. Affairs now began to be serious. His supper was not so hearty19. While the rest were eating, he walked about the room, and began to limit his ambition to recovery, and not to gain. When you play to win back, the fun is over: there is nothing to recompense you for your bodily tortures and your degraded feelings; and the very best result that can happen, while it has no charms, seems to your cowed mind impossible.
On they played, and the Duke lost more. His mind was jaded20. He floundered, he made desperate efforts, but plunged21 deeper in the slough22. Feeling that, to regain23 his ground, each card must tell, he acted on each as if it must win, and the consequences of this insanity24 (for a gamester at such a crisis is really insane) were, that his losses were prodigious25.
Another morning came, and there they sat, ankle-deep in cards. No attempt at breakfast now, no affectation of making a toilet or airing the room. The atmosphere was hot, to be sure, but it well became such a Hell. There they sat, in total, in positive forgetfulness of everything but the hot game they were hunting down. There was not a man in the room, except Tom Cogit, who could have told you the name of the town in which they were living. There they sat, almost breathless, watching every turn with the fell look in their cannibal eyes which showed their total inability to sympathise with their fellow-beings. All forms of society had been long forgotten. There was no snuff-box handed about now, for courtesy, admiration26, or a pinch; no affectation of occasionally making a remark upon any other topic but the all-engrossing one. Lord Castlefort rested with his arms on the table: a false tooth had got unhinged. His Lordship, who, at any other time, would have been most annoyed, coolly put it in his pocket. His cheeks had fallen, and he looked twenty years older. Lord Dice had torn off his cravat27, and his hair hung down over his callous28, bloodless cheeks, straight as silk. Temple Grace looked as if he were blighted30 by lightning; and his deep blue eyes gleamed like a hyaena’s. The Baron was least changed. Tom Cogit, who smelt31 that the crisis was at hand, was as quiet as a bribed32 rat.
On they played till six o’clock in the evening, and then they agreed to desist till after dinner. Lord Dice threw himself on a sofa. Lord Castlefort breathed with difficulty. The rest walked about. While they were resting on their oars33, the young Duke roughly made up his accounts. He found that he was minus about one hundred thousand pounds.
Immense as this loss was, he was more struck, more appalled34, let us say, at the strangeness of the surrounding scene, than even by his own ruin. As he looked upon his fellow gamesters, he seemed, for the first time in his life, to gaze upon some of those hideous35 demons36 of whom he had read. He looked in the mirror at himself. A blight29 seemed to have fallen over his beauty, and his presence seemed accursed. He had pursued a dissipated, even more than a dissipated career. Many were the nights that had been spent by him not on his couch; great had been the exhaustion37 that he had often experienced; haggard had sometimes even been the lustre38 of his youth. But when had been marked upon his brow this harrowing care? when had his features before been stamped with this anxiety, this anguish39, this baffled desire, this strange unearthly scowl40, which made him even tremble? What! was it possible? it could not be, that in time he was to be like those awful, those unearthly, those unhallowed things that were around him. He felt as if he had fallen from his state, as if he had dishonoured41 his ancestry42, as if he had betrayed his trust. He felt a criminal. In the darkness of his meditations43 a flash burst from his lurid44 mind, a celestial45 light appeared to dissipate this thickening gloom, and his soul felt as if it were bathed with the softening46 radiancy. He thought of May Dacre, he thought of everything that was pure, and holy, and beautiful, and luminous47, and calm. It was the innate48 virtue49 of the man that made this appeal to his corrupted50 nature. His losses seemed nothing; his dukedom would be too slight a ransom51 for freedom from these ghouls, and for the breath of the sweet air.
He advanced to the Baron, and expressed his desire to play no more. There was an immediate52 stir. All jumped up, and now the deed was done. Cant5, in spite of their exhaustion, assumed her reign53. They begged him to have his revenge, were quite annoyed at the result, had no doubt he would recover if he proceeded. Without noticing their remarks, he seated himself at the table, and wrote cheques for their respective amounts, Tom Cogit jumping up and bringing him the inkstand. Lord Castlefort, in the most affectionate manner, pocketed the draft; at the same time recommending the Duke not to be in a hurry, but to send it when he was cool. Lord Dice received his with a bow, Temple Grace with a sigh, the Baron with an avowal54 of his readiness always to give him his revenge.
The Duke, though sick at heart, would not leave the room with any evidence of a broken spirit; and when Lord Castlefort again repeated, ‘Pay us when we meet again,’ he said, ‘I think it very improbable that we shall meet again, my Lord. I wished to know what gaming was. I had heard a great deal about it. It is not so very disgusting; but I am a young man, and cannot play tricks with my complexion55.’
He reached his house. The Bird was out. He gave orders for himself not to be disturbed, and he went to bed; but in vain he tried to sleep. What rack exceeds the torture of an excited brain and an exhausted body? His hands and feet were like ice, his brow like fire; his ears rung with supernatural roaring; a nausea56 had seized upon him, and death he would have welcomed. In vain, in vain he courted repose57; in vain, in vain he had recourse to every expedient58 to wile59 himself to slumber60. Each minute he started from his pillow with some phrase which reminded him of his late fearful society. Hour after hour moved on with its leaden pace; each hour he heard strike, and each hour seemed an age. Each hour was only a signal to cast off some covering, or shift his position. It was, at length, morning. With a feeling that he should go mad if he remained any longer in bed, he rose, and paced his chamber61. The air refreshed him. He threw himself on the floor; the cold crept over his senses, and he slept.
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1
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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dice
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| n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险 | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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memoranda
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| n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式 | |
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debtor
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| n.借方，债务人 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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ultimatum
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| n.最后通牒 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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jaded
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| adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的 | |
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21
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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23
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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33
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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37
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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39
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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40
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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41
dishonoured
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| a.不光彩的，不名誉的 | |
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42
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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43
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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44
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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47
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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50
corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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51
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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52
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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54
avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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55
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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56
nausea
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| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
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57
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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wile
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| v.诡计，引诱；n.欺骗，欺诈 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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