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.

The father and mother received me as their preserver, and they may have
been sincere. The count begged me to come out of the room for a moment
with him, and when we were on the other side of the door, said,--

"Forgive an old and unfortunate man, forgive a father, if I ask you
whether it is tr