ance that a perfectly quiet demeanor was imperatively necessary;
that not a word should be uttered, not a syllable let fall, which should
break the spell of that enchantment that was luring on the gambler to
his ruin.

No man was more master of the hundred little artifices by which the
spectator--"the gallery" is the play phrase--can arouse the hopes and
stimulate the expectations of the losing player. He knew to perfection
when to back the unlucky gambler, and how to throw out those
half-muttered words of encouragement so dear and precious to the loser's
heart. But if he knew all this well, he also knew that there are times
when these interferences become impertinent, and when the intense
excitement of the game will not admit of the distraction of sympathy.
Linton, therefore, was silent; he took his seat behind the chair of one
of his intimates, and watched the table attentively.

At the close of a game wherein fortune vacillated for a long time, the
Duke lost above a hundred thousand francs,--a kind of pause, like a
truce, seemed to intervene, and Rica sat with the cards before him, not
making preparations for a new deal.

"Fortune is too decidedly your enemy this evening, my Lord Duke; I am
really ashamed to see you lose thus continuously."

"There is a certain Chateau de Marlier, which belongs to me, near St.
Germain," said the Duke. "It has been valued, with its grounds, at
upwards of seven hundred thousand francs; are you disposed to advance so
much upon it?"

"As loan or purchase?" asked Rica.

"Whichever you prefer. If the choice were mine, I should say as a loan."

"_Parbleu!_ it is a beautiful spot," said one of the players. "It was
formerly a hunting-seat of Louis XIV."

"You are quite correct, sir," said the Duke. "It was a present from that
monarch to my grandfather, and possesses, amongst its other advantages,
the privilege of giving the owner a ducal coronet. If any man be weak
enough in these days to care for the distinction, he can be Duke de
Marlier on easy terms."

"Take him," whispered Linton in Rica's ear. "I accept the venture as my
own."

"Were I to accept this offer, my Lord Duke," said Rica, "am I to
understand that no mortgages nor charges of any kind are in existence
against this property?"

"It is perfectly unencumbered," said the Duke, calmly. "There are some
half-dozen pictures--a Velasquez or two amongst them--which I should
reserve as my own; but everything else would belong