ofthe players riveted upon it that time passed unheeded. Two o'clock hadstruck, still the dealing and hazarding went on, while Nanette stood byquietly watching, and now and then replenishing the glasses of the men.
At length Hugh's good fortune forsook him, and a long run on the bankwas made. For five hands his cards were useless, and each time he wascompelled to pay, the result being that not a louis remained out of thepile of half an hour before.
Valerie expressed her regret at her lover's misfortune, and after somediscussion it was decided to make a fresh bank, Hugh, as before, to bebanker.
In order to obtain the necessary money he left the room, Valerieuttering some words of encouragement as he did so.
A few minutes later he returned with several crisp English notes in hishand. Having converted two of them into louis, play was resumed. Againthe fates were against him. He was flushed with excitement, and playedcarelessly. A number of successive rounds he lost to Adolphe, whosepile of coin as rapidly increased as his diminished, while muchgood-humoured chaff was levelled at him by his companions.
Then, for the first time, he recognised the amount of his loss, anddetermined, if possible, to recoup himself.
Flinging his two remaining notes--each of the value of one hundredpounds--upon the table, he remarked rather bitterly--
"It seems I've been overtaken by a run of infernal bad luck. Will anyone `play' me for the bank?"
"As you please," assented the count.
"_Ma foi_! you've played pluckily, although it's been a losing game."
"It's really too bad," declared Valerie pouting. "But I expect whenHugh has his revenge he will ruin us all."
"Scarcely," replied Trethowen, raising his glass to his lips.
"How much is in the bank?" asked Adolphe unconcernedly, as the cardswere being dealt.
"Five thousand francs," replied Hugh, after a moment's calculation.
"Very well, I'll `play' you," the young man said calmly.
The announcement caused each of the quartette the most intenseexcitement, for it meant that Pierre had backed that amount against thebanker's stake upon the result of his tableau.
Every one was silent. Hugh scarcely breathed. He dealt the cards, andeach snatched them up.
It was an exciting moment for all concerned, and there was a deadsilence.
The adventuress exchanged glances with the count. Adolphe remainedperfectly cool as he turned the faces of the cards upwards, a five and afour of diamonds, making a "natural" against which Hugh's cards wereuseless.
With a grim smile Hugh pushed the two notes and some gold over to hisadversary, and, rising from the table, exclaimed--
"I think, after all, I'd better have remained a punter than aspired tobe a banker."
"Never mind," said Valerie encouragingly, as she gathered up herwinnings, "your good luck will return to-morrow."
"I shall ruin myself if I go on long at this rate," he replied. "Ishall have to send to London to-morrow for a fresh supply, otherwise Ishall be hard up."
"Not much fear of that," she said chaffingly. "But it's four o'clock,so we had better retire."
He took her hand and wished her _bon soir_, she afterwards leaving withNanette, while the men also sought their respective rooms.
It was already daylight, and Hugh did not attempt to sleep, but,flinging himself upon a couch, indulged in calm reflections. His lossdid not trouble him, for he could afford it, but the subject of hiscontemplation was a conversation he intended having on the morrow withthe woman who had fascinated him.
Had he witnessed the scene at that moment in Valerie's sitting-room, thescales would have fallen from his eyes. _On n'est jamais si heureux, nisi malheureux qu'on se l'imagine_.
When the two men left him, they went straight to her.
"Well, how did I manage it?" asked Pierre, with a crafty twinkle in hiseye, when the door had closed.
"Capitally!" she cried, with almost childish glee. "He doesn't suspectin the least."
Both men disgorged their winnings, and placed the money upon the tablein the centre of the room.
It amounted to nearly eight thousand francs.
Selecting two four-hundred franc notes, she gave one to each of them astheir share of the spoil, and, sweeping the remainder into a bag, lockedit up.
"Pierre's idea was excellent," remarked Victor. "We wanted the moneybadly, and although the sum isn't very large, the manoeuvre is one thatmight be worth repeating, eh?"
"That's just it. The thing is so simple. I kept the winning handconcealed until the stake was large enough, then I played it."
"You're even smarter with the cards than I anticipated. Pere Amiotdidn't teach you to manipulate for nothing; you've been our salvation,"observed Valerie.
"For your sake, mademoiselle, no task is too difficult," he said, withmock gallantry, bowing.
"A little of that sort of talk is quite sufficient," she answered, witha laugh.
The subject dropped, and for a few minutes they held a seriousconsultation, after which the two men wished her good-night, anddeparted stealthily along the corridor.
Nanette entered, and her mistress sank into a chair, reflectingsilently, while she deftly arranged her hair for the night.
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
A STRANGE COMPACT.
The morning was oppressive and sultry. Valerie, coming from her room,thrust open the window of the sitting-room, with an impatientexclamation, and sat with her elbows upon the window ledge inhaling whatlittle air there was to be had. She lolled there, looking down upon thequaint street in an abstracted mood, for the men had gone for theirmatutinal walk after the glass or two of water at the Pouhon.
She was glad to be alone. To herself sometimes she appearedextraordinary and of an exceptional disposition, of the temperament ofanimals that are rendered faithful by brutal treatment. There were dayson which she no longer knew herself, and on which she asked herselfwhether she were really the same woman. In reviewing all the basenessto which she had been bent, she could not believe that it was she whohad undergone it all. She strove to imagine a degree of degradation towhich her nature would refuse to descend.
As she sat, silent and thoughtful, the door opened softly, and a tall,dark, well-dressed man entered noiselessly. He was good-looking, with acarriage that was unmistakably military, and a carefully trainedmoustache. Glancing quickly round with eyes that had a rather fiercelook in them, he walked over to where mademoiselle sat, and haltedbehind her chair.
"So I've found you at last, madame," he exclaimed harshly in English,placing a heavy hand upon her shoulder.
The unexpected voice startled her.
"_You_!" she gasped, jumping to her feet and turning pale.
"Yes," he replied, leaning against the edge of the table and thrustinghis hands into his pockets with an easy, nonchalant air. "You scarcelyexpected this meeting,--did you, eh? Well, although it is a long timeago since you took it into your head to leave me, you see I haven'tquite lost sight of you. And, after all, it is but natural that Ishould be solicitous of your welfare since you are my wife," he addedgrimly.
"Wretch! Why have you come here?" she asked in ill-concealed alarm.
"To see you, pretty one," he answered. "Three years is rather a longperiod to be absent from one's wife, you'll admit."
"Wife!" she cried in a tone of disgust. "Why not call me by my propername? I was your slave, Captain Willoughby. You used me to decoy youngmen to your house so that you might fleece them at cards, and when Irefused any longer to participate in your schemes you used brute forcetowards me. See!" she continued, unbuttoning the sleeve of her bodice,and exposing her bare arm--"see, I still bear a mark of yourill-treatment."
He smiled at her indignation.
"It's very pleasant to talk in this strain, no doubt," he observed, "butyou have apparently overlooked one rather disagreeable fact--that whenleaving Cannes, you took twenty thousand francs belonging to me."
"And what if I did, pray? I l
eft you because of your cruelty, and I'venot since applied to you for maintenance, nor even sought a divorce."
"That's true. But now you've had your fling, perhaps you won't objectto return to your lawful husband."
"You must be an imbecile to think that I would."
"What! You will not?" he cried angrily.
"No, never. I hate and loathe you."
"That makes but little difference," said he coolly. "Nevertheless, as awife would be of assistance to me just now, I mean that you shall returnto me."
"But I tell you I will never do so," she declared emphatically.
"Then I shall simply compel
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