"Ah;--indeed." And Miles enveloped himself from head to foot in smoke.

"I didn't quite understand about it, but Nidderdale saw Melmotte and he has explained it, I think I shall go in for a couple of thousand on Wednesday."

"Oh;--ah."

"It will be the proper thing to do--won't it?"

"Very good--thing to do!" Miles Grendall smoked harder and harder as the suggestions were made to him.

"Is it always ready money?"

"Always ready money," said Miles shaking his head, as though in reprobation of so abominable an inst.i.tution.

"I suppose they allow some time to their own Directors, if a deposit, say 50 per cent., is made for the shares?"

"They'll give you half the number, which would come to the same thing."

Sir Felix turned this over in his mind, but let him look at it as he would, could not see the truth of his companion's remark. "You know I should want to sell again,--for the rise."

"Oh; you'll want to sell again."

"And therefore I must have the full number."

"You could sell half the number, you know," said Miles.

"I'm determined to begin with ten shares;--that's 1,000. Well;--I have got the money, but I don't want to draw out so much. Couldn't you manage for me that I should get them on paying 50 per cent.

down?"

"Melmotte does all that himself."

"You could explain, you know, that you are a little short in your own payments to me." This Sir Felix said, thinking it to be a delicate mode of introducing his claim upon the Secretary.

"That's private," said Miles frowning.

"Of course it's private; but if you would pay me the money I could buy the shares with it though they are public."

"I don't think we could mix the two things together, Carbury."

"You can't help me?"

"Not in that way."

"Then, when the deuce will you pay me what you owe me?" Sir Felix was driven to this plain expression of his demand by the impa.s.sibility of his debtor. Here was a man who did not pay his debts of honour, who did not even propose any arrangement for paying them, and who yet had the impudence to talk of not mixing up private matters with affairs of business! It made the young baronet very sick. Miles Grendall smoked on in silence. There was a difficulty in answering the question, and he therefore made no answer. "Do you know how much you owe me?" continued the baronet, determined to persist now that he had commenced the attack. There was a little crowd of other men in the room, and the conversation about the shares had been commenced in an undertone. These two last questions Sir Felix had asked in a whisper, but his countenance showed plainly that he was speaking in anger.

"Of course I know," said Miles.

"Well?"

"I'm not going to talk about it here,"

"Not going to talk about it here?"

"No. This is a public room."

"I am going to talk about it," said Sir Felix, raising his voice.

"Will any fellow come upstairs and play a game of billiards?" said Miles Grendall rising from his chair. Then he walked slowly out of the room, leaving Sir Felix to take what revenge he pleased. For a moment Sir Felix thought that he would expose the transaction to the whole room; but he was afraid, thinking that Miles Grendall was a more popular man than himself.

It was Sunday night; but not the less were the gamblers a.s.sembled in the card-room at about eleven. Dolly Longestaffe was there, and with him the two lords, and Sir Felix, and Miles Grendall of course, and, I regret to say, a much better man than any of them, Paul Montague.

Sir Felix had doubted much as to the propriety of joining the party.

What was the use of playing with a man who seemed by general consent to be liberated from any obligation to pay? But then if he did not play with him, where should he find another gambling table? They began with whist, but soon laid that aside and devoted themselves to loo. The least respected man in that confraternity was Grendall, and yet it was in compliance with the persistency of his suggestion that they gave up the n.o.bler game. "Let's stick to whist; I like cutting out," said Gra.s.slough. "It's much more jolly having nothing to do now and then; one can always bet," said Dolly shortly afterwards. "I hate loo," said Sir Felix in answer to a third application. "I like whist best," said Nidderdale, "but I'll play anything anybody likes,--pitch and toss if you please." But Miles Grendall had his way, and loo was the game.

At about two o'clock Grendall was the only winner. The play had not been very high, but nevertheless he had won largely. Whenever a large pool had collected itself he swept it into his garners. The men opposed to him hardly grudged him this stroke of luck. He had hitherto been unlucky; and they were able to pay him with his own paper, which was so valueless that they parted with it without a pang. Even Dolly Longestaffe seemed to have a supply of it. The only man there not so furnished was Montague, and while the sums won were quite small he was allowed to pay with cash. But to Sir Felix it was frightful to see ready money going over to Miles Grendall, as under no circ.u.mstances could it be got back from him. "Montague," he said, "just change these for the time. I'll take them back, if you still have them when we've done." And he handed a lot of Miles's paper across the table. The result of course would be that Felix would receive so much real money, and that Miles would get back more of his own worthless paper. To Montague it would make no difference, and he did as he was asked,--or rather was preparing to do so, when Miles interfered. On what principle of justice could Sir Felix come between him and another man? "I don't understand this kind of thing," he said. "When I win from you, Carbury, I'll take my I.O.U.'s, as long as you have any."

"By George, that's kind."

"But I won't have them handed about the table to be changed."

"Pay them yourself, then," said Sir Felix, laying a handful down on the table.

"Don't let's have a row," said Lord Nidderdale.

"Carbury is always making a row," said Gra.s.slough.

"Of course he is," said Miles Grendall.

"I don't make more row than anybody else; but I do say that as we have such a lot of these things, and as we all know that we don't get cash for them as we want it, Grendall shouldn't take money and walk off with it."

"Who is walking off?" said Miles.

"And why should you be ent.i.tled to Montague's money more than any of us?" asked Gra.s.slough.

The matter was debated, and was thus decided. It was not to be allowed that Miles's paper should be negotiated at the table in the manner that Sir Felix had attempted to adopt. But Mr. Grendall pledged his honour that when they broke up the party he would apply any money that he might have won to the redemption of his I.O.U.'s, paying a regular percentage to the holders of them. The decision made Sir Felix very cross. He knew that their condition at six or seven in the morning would not be favourable to such commercial accuracy,--which indeed would require an accountant to effect it; and he felt sure that Miles, if still a winner, would in truth walk off with the ready money.

For a considerable time he did not speak, and became very moderate in his play, tossing his cards about, almost always losing, but losing a minimum, and watching the board. He was sitting next to Grendall, and he thought that he observed that his neighbour moved his chair farther and farther away from him, and nearer to Dolly Longestaffe, who was next to him on the other side. This went on for an hour, during which Grendall still won,--and won heavily from Paul Montague.

"I never saw a fellow have such a run of luck in my life," said Gra.s.slough. "You've had two trumps dealt to you every hand almost since we began!"

"Ever so many hands I haven't played at all," said Miles.

"You've always won when I've played," said Dolly. "I've been looed every time."

"You oughtn't to begrudge me one run of luck, when I've lost so much," said Miles, who, since he began, had destroyed paper counters of his own making, supposed to represent considerably above 1,000, and had also,--which was of infinitely greater concern to him,--received an amount of ready money which was quite a G.o.dsend to him.

"What's the good of talking about it?" said Nidderdale. "I hate all this row about winning and losing. Let's go on, or go to bed." The idea of going to bed was absurd. So they went on. Sir Felix, however, hardly spoke at all, played very little, and watched Miles Grendall without seeming to watch him. At last he felt certain that he saw a card go into the man's sleeve, and remembered at the moment that the winner had owed his success to a continued run of aces. He was tempted to rush at once upon the player, and catch the card on his person. But he feared. Grendall was a big man; and where would he be if there should be no card there? And then, in the scramble, there would certainly be at any rate a doubt. And he knew that the men around him would be most unwilling to believe such an accusation.

Gra.s.slough was Grendall's friend, and Nidderdale and Dolly Longestaffe would infinitely rather be cheated than suspect any one of their own set of cheating them. He feared both the violence of the man he should accuse, and also the unpa.s.sive good humour of the others. He let that opportunity pa.s.s by, again watched, and again saw the card abstracted. Thrice he saw it, till it was wonderful to him that others also should not see it. As often as the deal came round, the man did it. Felix watched more closely, and was certain that in each round the man had an ace at least once. It seemed to him that nothing could be easier. At last he pleaded a headache, got up, and went away, leaving the others playing. He had lost nearly a thousand pounds, but it had been all in paper. "There's something the matter with that fellow," said Gra.s.slough.

"There's always something the matter with him, I think," said Miles.

"He is so awfully greedy about his money." Miles had become somewhat triumphant in his success.