Each player drew three numbers in succession, and there were three professionals; one kept the bag, another the bank, and the third the board, and the last took care to gather in the winnings as soon as the result was known, and the bank amounted to two thousand sequins or thereabouts.  The table, the cloth, and four silver candlesticks belonged to the players.

I sat at the left of Madame Isola-Bella, who began to play, and as there were fifteen or sixteen of us I had lost about fifty sequins when my turn came, for my harlequin had not appeared once.  Everybody pitied me, or pretended to do so, for selfishness is the predominant passion of gamesters.

My turn came at last.  I drew my harlequin and received thirty-two sequins.  I left them on the same figure, and got a thousand sequins.  I left fifty still on the board, and the harlequin came out for the third time.  The bank was broken, and the table, the cloth, the candlesticks, and the board all belonged to me.  Everyone congratulated me, and the wretched bankrupt gamesters were hissed, hooted, and turned out of doors.

After the first transports were over, I saw that the ladies were in distress; for as there could be no more gaming they did not know what to do.  I consoled them by declaring that I would be banker, but with equal stakes, and that I would pay winning cards thirty-six times the stake instead of thirty-two.  This was pronounced charming of me, and I amused everybody till supper-time, without any great losses or gains on either side.  By dint of entreaty I made the lady of the house accept the whole concern as a present, and a very handsome one it was.

The supper was pleasant enough, and my success at play was the chief topic of conversation.  Before leaving I asked Signora Isola-Bella and her marquis to dine with me, and they eagerly accepted the invitation.  When I got home I went to see my niece, who told me she had spent a delightful evening.

“A very pleasant young man,” said she, “who is coming to dine with us to-morrow, paid me great attention.”

“The same, I suppose, that did so yesterday?”

“Yes.  Amongst other pretty things he told me that if I liked he would go to Marseilles and ask my hand of my father.  I said nothing, but I thought to myself that if the poor young man gave himself all this trouble he would be woefully misled, as he would not see me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I should be in a nunnery.  My kind good father will forgive me, but I must punish myself.”

“That is a sad design, which I hope you will abandon.  You have all that would make the happiness of a worthy husband.  The more I think it over, the more I am convinced of the truth of what I say.”

We said no more just then, for she needed rest.  Annette came to undress her, and I was glad to see the goodness of my niece towards her, but the coolness with which the girl behaved to her mistress did not escape my notice.  As soon as she came to sleep with me I gently remonstrated with her, bidding her to do her duty better for the future.  Instead of answering with a caress, as she ought to have done, she began to cry.