Chapter 42

The room was well filled but not crowded. The ease and spaciousness more than anything else gave testimony to the costliness of the place. There were luxurious settees around the walls with little tables for drinks. Gambling is thirsty work. It was gambling in earnest, and there was little sound but the clinking of counters and the rattle of the rolling ivory ball. A very smart crowd naturally: men in evening dress; women in gay dancing frocks. There was also the other element: sinister little men like Chiglic…