d discontent awoke anew and drove him out of the
house in a state of uneasy, unsettled restlessness. His evil reputation
had followed him from Paris to Genoa; he dare not venture to establish
a bank, although he was being goaded to do so by a power he could
hardly resist.

"At that time the richest bank in Genoa was kept by a French colonel,
who had been invalided owing to serious wounds. His heart burning with
envy and fierce hatred, the Chevalier appeared at the Colonel's table,
expecting that his usual good fortune would stand by him, and that he
should soon ruin his rival. The Colonel greeted him in a merry humour,
such as was in general not customary with him, and said that now the
play would really be worth indulging in since they had got Chevalier
Menars and his good-luck to join them, for now would come the struggle
which alone made the game interesting.

"And in fact during the first _taille_ the cards fell favourable to the
Chevalier as they always had done. But when, relying upon his
invincible luck, he at last cried '_Va banquet_,'[6] he lost a very
considerable sum at one stroke.

"The Colonel, at other times preserving the same even temperament
whether winning or losing, now swept the money towards him with the
most demonstrative signs of extreme delight. From this moment fortune
turned away from the Chevalier utterly and completely. He played every
night, and every night he lost, until his property had melted away to a
few thousand ducats,[7] which he still had in securities.

"The Chevalier had spent the whole day in running about to get his
securities converted into ready money, and did not reach home until
late in the evening. So soon as it was fully night, he was about to
leave the house with his last gold pieces in his pocket, when Angela,
who suspected pretty much how matters stood, stepped in his path and
threw herself at his feet, whilst a flood of tears gushed from her
eyes, beseeching him by the Virgin and all the saints to abandon his
wicked purpose, and not to plunge her in want and misery.

"He raised her up and strained her to his heart with painful passionate
intensity, saying in a hoarse voice, 'Angela, my dear sweet Angela! It
can't be helped now, indeed it must be so; I must go on with it, for I
can't let it alone. But to-morrow--to-morrow all your troubles shall
be over, for by the Eternal Destiny that rules over us I swear that
to-day shall be the last time I will play. Quiet your