mphant a smile at thy partner?
I must own that nothing which could well add to the parson's offence was
wanting. In the first place, he did not play charitably, and merely to
oblige other people. He delighted in the game, he rejoiced in the game,
his whole heart was in the game,--neither was he indifferent to the
mammon of the thing, as a Christian pastor ought to have been. He looked
very sad when he took his shillings out of his purse, and exceedingly
pleased when he put the shillings that had just before belonged to
other people into it. Finally, by one of those arrangements common with
married people who play at the same table, 'Mr. and--Mrs. Hazeldean were
invariably partners, and no two people could play worse; while Captain
Barnabas, who had played at Graham's with honour and profit, necessarily
became partner to Parson Dale, who himself played a good steady parsonic
game. So that, in strict truth, it was hardly fair play; it was almost
swindling,--the combination of these two great dons against that
innocent married couple! Mr. Dale, it is true, was aware of this
disproportion of force, and had often proposed either to change partners
or to give odds,--propositions always scornfully scouted by the squire
and his lady, so that the parson was obliged to pocket his conscience,
together with the ten points which made his average winnings.

The strangest thing in the world is the different way in which whist
affects the temper. It is no test of temper, as some pretend,--not at
all! The best-tempered people in the world grow snappish at whist; and
I have seen the most testy and peevish in the ordinary affairs of life
bear their losses with the stoicism of Epictetus. This was notably
manifested in the contrast between the present adversaries of the Hall
and the Rectory. The squire, who was esteemed as choleric a gentleman as
most in the county, was the best-humoured fellow you could imagine when
you set him down to whist opposite the sunny face of his wife. You never
heard one of those incorrigible blunderers scold each other; on the
contrary, they only laughed when they threw away the game, with four
by honours in their hands. The utmost that was ever said was a "Well,
Harry, that was the oddest trump of yours. Ho, ho, ho!" or a "Bless me,
Hazeldean--why, they made three tricks in clubs, and you had the ace in
your hand all the time! Ha, ha, ha!"

Upon which occasions Captain Barnabas, with great goodhumour, always
e