he had known me for seventeen years, his acquaintance dating from the time I had juggled a professional gamester, calling himself Count Celi, out of a pretty ballet-girl whom I had taken to Mantua.  I confessed the deed and amused the company by the story of what had happened at Mantua with Oreilan, and how I had found Count Celi at Cesena metamorphosed into Count Alfani.  Somebody mentioned the ball which was to be held the next day, and when I said I was not going they laughed.

“I bet I know you,” said Canano, “if you come to the bank.”

“I am not going to play any more,” said I.

“All the better for me,” answered Canano; “for though your punting is unlucky, you don’t leave off till you have won my money.  But that’s only my joke; try again, and I protest I would see you win half my fortune gladly.”

Count Canano had a ring on his finger with a stone not unlike one of mine; it had cost him two thousand sequins, while mine was worth three thousand.  He proposed that we should stake them against each other after having them unmounted and valued.

“When?” said I.

“Before going to the opera.”

“Very good; but on two turns of the cards, and a deal to each.”

“No, I never punt.”

“Then we must equalise the game.”

“How do you mean?”

“By leaving doubles and the last two cards out of account.”

“Then you would have the advantage.”

“If you can prove that I will pay you a hundred sequins.  Indeed, I would bet anything you like that the game would still be to the advantage of the banker.”

“Can you prove it?”

“Yes; and I will name the Marquis Triulzi as judge.”

I was asked to prove my point without any question of a bet.

“The advantages of the banker,” said I, “are two.  The first and the smaller is that all he has got to attend to is not to deal wrongly, which is a very small matter to an habitual player; and all the time the punter has to rack his brains on the chances of one card or another coming out.  The other advantage is one of time.  The banker draws his card at least a second before the punter, and this again gives him a purchase”

No one replied; but after some thought the Marquis Triulzi said that to make the chances perfectly equal the players would have to be equal, which was almost out of the question.

“All that is too sublime for me,” said Canano; “I don’t understand it.”  But, after all, there was not much to understand.

After dinner I went to the “Three Kings” to find out what Irene had to say to me, and to enjoy her presence.  When she saw me she ran up to me, threw her arms round my neck, and kissed me, but with too much eagerness for me to lay much value on the salute.  However, I have always known that if one wants to enjoy pleasure one must not philosophise about it, or one runs a risk of losing half the enjoyment.  If Irene had struck me in dancing the ‘forlana’, why should not I have pleased her in spite of my superiority in age?  It was not impossible, and that should be enough for me, as I did not intend to make her my wife.