pointment in the Duke's
service. He had mingled in the gay society of the most brilliant Court
in the world, and had endless stories to tell us of the pleasures of the
petites maisons, of the secrets of the Parc aux Cerfs, and of the wild
gaieties of Richelieu and his companions. He had been almost ruined at
play, as his father had been before him; for, out of the reach of the
stern old Baron in Germany, both son and grandson had led the most
reckless of lives. He came back from Paris soon after the embassy which
had been despatched thither on the occasion of the marriage of the
Princess, was received sternly by his old grandfather; who, however,
paid his debts once more, and procured him the post in the Duke's
household. The Chevalier de Magny rendered himself a great favourite
of his august master; he brought with him the modes and the gaieties
of Paris; he was the deviser of all the masquerades and balls, the
recruiter of the ballet-dancers, and by far the most brilliant and
splendid young gentleman of the Court.

After we had been a few weeks at Ludwigslust, the old Baron de Magny
endeavoured to have us dismissed from the duchy; but his voice was not
strong enough to overcome that of the general public, and the Chevalier
de Magny especially stood our friend with his Highness when the question
was debated before him. The Chevalier's love of play had not deserted
him. He was a regular frequenter of our bank, where he played for some
time with pretty good luck; and where, when he began to lose, he paid
with a regularity surprising to all those who knew the smallness of his
means, and the splendour of his appearance.

Her Highness the Princess Olivia was also very fond of play. On
half-a-dozen occasions when we held a bank at Court, I could see her
passion for the game. I could see--that is, my cool-headed old uncle
could see--much more. There was an intelligence between Monsieur de
Magny and this illustrious lady. 'If her Highness be not in love with
the little Frenchman,' my uncle said to me one night after play, 'may I
lose the sight of my last eye!'

'And what then, sir?' said I.

'What then?' said my uncle, looking me hard in the face. 'Are you so
green as not to know what then? Your fortune is to be made, if you
choose to back it now; and we may have back the Barry estates in two
years, my boy.'

'How is that?' asked I, still at a loss.

My uncle drily said, 'Get Magny to play; never mind his paying: take