"They make a small charge for emptying your pockets," said Felix. "They pretend to be rather particular about their victims."
The select rooms were crowded. Every table in the blazing interior had round it a thick ring of sitters and standers, and many people were walking to and fro, disappointed or hopeful. By tiptoeing and supporting herself on Felix's shoulder Lilian could just see the green cloth of a table, like the floor of a pit whose walls were bodies elegant in evening dress; it was littered with white, rose, and green counters, banknotes, cards, ash-trays, cigarette cases, and vanity bags. More women were seated than men. A single croupier dominated and ruled the game. Cards and counters were thrown about from side to side.
"It seems frightfully exciting," murmured Lilian, scarcely audible, into the ear of Felix.
"It is," said Felix gruffly. "It's the real thing, you know, gambling7 is. When people lose they lose real money, and when they win, ditto. You can genuinely ruin yourself here. There's no sham8 about it. You may go out without even your fare home." He offered these remarks separately, between considerable pauses.
"Is baccarat easy to learn?"
"Very. But not here--and this isn't baccarat. This is chemin de fer--equally easy, though. I'll get a pack of cards at the hotel and teach you. It's chemin de fer at every table. I suppose that's why they call the rooms 'baccarat'?"
He was edging nearer the croupier. A stout9, middle-aged10 woman whose flesh seemed to be insecurely and inadequately11 confined within frail12 silk rose from her chair, gathering13 up bag and cigarette case--all that remained to her.
"Sit down here and keep the chair for me," Felix said sharply, and pushed Lilian into the seat.
Everybody gazed at her, and her constraint14 showed the conviction that everybody guessed she had never sat at a gaming-table before. Felix had vanished, and she was thrown with her arresting, innocent beauty upon the envious15 and jealous world. He had gone to exchange notes for counters, but she did not know. After a moment that was an hour he returned and took the seat.
"You stand behind me and watch," said he. "And when you get bored walk about and see things for yourself, and when you need moral support again come and put your hand on my chair. I'll stop playing whenever you tell me." He spoke16 in a muttering voice, but three or four persons around could not fail to catch every word; this, however, appeared not to trouble him.
Lilian was in a state of high excitation, but she was also extremely confused, the game being a complete enigma17 to her. The croupier was continually raking cards to and fro and counters to and fro, continually tearing tickets out of a book, ripping them to pieces and throwing the pieces behind him, continually dropping cards into a big hole, and continually dropping counters into a little hole. An official opposite the croupier, with pockets full of counters, was continually, and with miraculous18 rapidity, exchanging rose counters for green and white counters for rose. The player next to Felix had a small table behind him furnished with champagne19 and sandwiches, which he consumed in hasty gulps20 and mouthfuls, as one who feels the dread21 hour at hand when no man may eat or drink. The players ejaculated short incomprehensible words, and at brief intervals22 Lilian seized a word that sounded like "baunco." She heard Felix utter the word, saw him turn up two cards, and then receive from the croupier's rake a large assortment23 of green and rose counters. He never looked at her to smile; she was ignored, but she guessed that he must be winning. Soon afterwards his piles of counters had strangely diminished.
The heat stifled24 her, and the odour of flesh and tobacco and scent25 nauseated26. She held no key to the vast and splendid conundrum27, unless by chance her fundamental commonsense28 was right in its casual suggestion that she was surrounded by lunatics. Yet how could persons so well-dressed, so sure of themselves, so restrained and stylish29 in manner, and seemingly so wealthy, be lunatics? Impossible! She grew profoundly and inexplicably30 sad.
At length she walked away, aimless. Felix did not notice her departure. She thought it almost certain that Lord Mackworth would be somewhere in the rooms; she desired above everything to avoid the danger incident to meeting him face to face; but she walked away. All the tables were the same as the table at which she had left Felix--crowded, entranced, self-concentrated and perfectly31 unintelligible32; and at every table the croupier was continually dropping counters into a little hole, and tearing up tickets and throwing the fragments behind him on to the crimson33 carpet. The sole difference between the tables was that some held more banknotes than others. The heaps of blue thousand-franc notes piled about one table caused Lilian to halt and gaze.
"Some ready there!" said a very young man to a fierce old woman.
"Ah! But you should have seen it in the days of gold plaques34 before the war. You could call a hundred-franc gold piece 'ready,' then, if you like." The old woman sighed grimly.
Lilian passed on under their combined stare. She glimpsed herself in mirrors, as once she used to glimpse herself in the shop windows of Bond Street, and was satisfied with the vision. Her walk was as remarkable35 as her beauty. Yes, she knew how to put her feet on the ground and how to make her body float smoothly36 and evenly above the moving limbs. Her spirit rose as she began to suspect that no woman in the rooms was getting more notice than herself. Fancy Felix being absorbed in his gambling! She had forgotten Lord Mackworth; she had decided37 that he was not in the rooms; and then suddenly, sprung from nothingness like a ghost, he stood in her path between the wall and the end of a table. She was disposed to retreat; besides, his attention was fixed38 on the table and she might get by him unperceived. But just as she approached he turned. Although she might have ignored him, and in the circumstances was indeed entitled to do so, she did not because she could not. She blushed, only slightly, acknowledged their acquaintance with a faint smile, then stopped, but did not advance her hand to meet his.
"Ought I to have shaken hands?" she thought anxiously. All her quickly acquired worldliness of manner left her in an instant. She was the typewriting girl again, wearing the wristlets. He had all the physical splendour that she remembered, and the style, and the benignant large-hearted tolerance39 of an extensive sinner. As he looked at her he drew back his chin and made several chins of it in just the old way. He was enormous, superb, and perfect. And if not a boy he had real youth; once more she had to contrast his youth with Felix's specious40 sprightliness41. She fought on behalf of Felix in her mind, and on points Felix won; but in her mind Lord Mackworth had supporters which derided42 all reasoning. And as she fronted him the old frightful6 apprehension was powerfully revived, and it seemed to be building a wall between her and the young man, and she was intensely dejected beneath the brightness of her demeanour.
"Very hot here, isn't it?" she was saying. ("A stupid typewriting girl remark," she reflected as it slipped out.)
"Warmer, do you mean?"
"No! Much more cheery now. Jollier!" He waved a hand towards the company in general.
"Oh, that!" said Lilian, marshalling all her forces in a determined44 effort to lose the typewriting girl in the woman of the world. "You mean the company." She shrugged45 her shoulders, borrowing some of his tolerance, "Of course, you know they've been brought here on purpose. It's all part of a great battle for the command of the coast."
The effort succeeded beyond her hopes. Lord Mackworth was clearly impressed; he put questions which Lilian answered out of the mouth of Felix. Strange that this man should be he who had inexcusably omitted to pay his trumpery46 bill at Clifford Street, the man through whose unconscious agency she had been unjustly cast into the street! However, the past did not in the least affect her feeling for him. What she most vividly47 recalled was that she had striven to serve him and had served him. He made no reference--doubtless from delicacy--to the night of their meeting; nor did he betray even the very smallest surprise at seeing her, the typewriting girl, exquisitely48 and expensively dressed, in the finest baccarat rooms on the Riviera. (Of course, she might be married, or have inherited a fortune--he could think as he chose.)
They went on talking and then a pause came, and Lord Mackworth said bluntly:
"I saw you from the yacht this afternoon."
"Oh! What yacht?"
"The Qita."
"The big one? Is it yours?"
"Oh lord, no! She belongs to my friend Macmusson--we dined together here to-night."
"It must be terribly big. I suppose you have an enormous party on board?"
"Not a bit. Only Macmusson and his three old aunts, and his niece--adopted daughter. Nobody else."
"That's the girl you were making love to," Lilian's heart accused him. "She's going to be very rich and she'll pay all your family debts. That's what it is. But what difference does it make?" her heart added, "You are you." And aloud: "I heard the yacht was leaving to-night."
"She was. But I persuaded old Macmusson to stop another day."
"Really!"
"And do you know why?"
"No."
"Because I had some hope of meeting you here to-night."
She flushed again. She saw the ante-room at Clifford Street at the moment when he came back to ask her to wake him by telephone. He must have been well aware, then, that he had made a conquest, because in the ante-room she had not been able to hide her soft emotion. From that moment he had forgotten her; yet he could not have forgotten her. Perhaps he had somehow been prevented from meeting her in the meantime. Now at the mere49 second sight of her he had stopped the great yacht on the chance of talking to her! He had thrown over the young rich girl at a single glimpse of Lilian as she passed! It was astounding50. But in fact she was not astounded51. She glanced up at him. His smooth, handsome red face was alive with admiration52. And was she not really to be admired, even by the Lord Mackworths? Was she not marvellous? Did not all the company in the rooms regard her as marvellous? She thrilled to the romance of the incredible event. He was so young and big and strong and handsome; he had such prestige in her eyes. She saw visions.
But the frightful apprehension--no longer a wall, rather a cloud--swallowed up the visions and froze the thrill. Felix held her. A gust53 of ruthless common sense inspired her to say primly54:
"It's always dangerous to give reasons for what one's done." And, nodding, she left him. Immediately afterwards she had to sit down.
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1
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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forgo
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| v.放弃，抛弃 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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7
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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8
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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10
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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inadequately
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| ad.不够地；不够好地 | |
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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17
enigma
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| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
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miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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19
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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20
gulps
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| n.一大口（尤指液体）( gulp的名词复数 )v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的第三人称单数 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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22
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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23
assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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24
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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25
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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26
nauseated
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| adj.作呕的，厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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conundrum
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| n.谜语；难题 | |
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28
commonsense
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| adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的 | |
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stylish
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| adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的 | |
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inexplicably
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| adv.无法说明地，难以理解地，令人难以理解的是 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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32
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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33
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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34
plaques
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| （纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑 | |
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35
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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36
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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40
specious
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| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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41
sprightliness
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| n.愉快，快活 | |
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42
derided
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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44
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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45
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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46
trumpery
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| n.无价值的杂物；adj.（物品）中看不中用的 | |
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47
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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48
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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49
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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50
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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51
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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52
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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53
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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54
primly
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| adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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