The Launching of Roger Brook

them upstairs.

The whole of the first floor consisted of one big salon. In it about thirty people were assembled, all of them men, grouped round four large baize-covered tables. The room was lit adequately, but not brightly, by two-score of shaded candles set on the tables, or held by sconces centred in the gilt-outlined panels of the white painted walls. The floor was covered with a thick Aubusson carpet and at the far end from its tall, heavily curtained windows there was a buffet for food and drinks, and a small separate table with neat piles of gold and silver coins on it, behind which sat a dark-browed man. The atmosphere was orderly and subdued, the only sounds being the clink of coins, the quick flutter of cards and an occasional murmur from one of the players.

De Roubec led the way over to the cashier and Roger produced two of his guineas. The black-browed man gave only seven crowns and two francs each for them, but at a sharp word from the Chevalier he shrugged his shoulders and pushed across another crown; which made Roger feel that he had been very lucky to find such a worldly wise friend to protect his interests. As they walked over to the tables he slipped eight of the crowns into De Roubec's hand, retaining the rest for himself.

For ten minutes or so they moved quietly about watching the play. There were two tables of Vingt-et-un and two of Trente-et-quarante; those nearest the window being in each case for higher play with a gold demi-pistol as the minimum stake, whereas at the other two, players could stake anything from a franc upwards. Roger was fas­cinated by the sight of the little piles of double Louis, Louis and pistols - on the high-play tables, as he had never seen so much gold in his life, but he was not a gambler by nature and, even had he had the money, he would have played at one of the lower tables from choice.

Both the games were entirely strange to him so on De Roubec's asking him which he wished to play he chose the Trente-et-quarante, since it seemed much the simpler of the two, and they took two of the gilt chairs at the lower table.

Quickly picking up the idea of the game Roger began to punt a franc a time on each hand, and for a quarter of an hour won and lost more or less alternately, but the Chevalier refrained from playing and appeared content to watch his protdge, having quickly realised that the young Englishman was new to the game and feeling that he might in due course be blessed with beginner's luck.

De Roubec's hunch proved correct. For some minutes Roger's little pile of silver steadily increased, then the Chevalier came in, following his lead but staking crowns, and later, double-crowns, instead of francs. For the best part of an hour their run of luck continued, then fortune seemed to turn against them and their gains began to dwindle; but after twenty minutes and while they were still well in hand the luck came back. They played for another half-hour then De Roubec suddenly sat back, swept up his winnings and poured them into his pocket.

Roger looked at him in surprise but he smiled, and said: 'Continue if you wish, mon ami. But I shall not tempt fortune further, and I would advise you, too, to withdraw before the fickle jade ceases to smile upon you.'

The advice was sound and again Roger congratulated himself on having found so pleasant and wise a mentor. On counting his money he found that he had made fifty-five francs and he wished now that he had been playing in crowns as De Roubec must have cleared at least three times that sum; but he felt that he certainly had no cause to grumble.

Leaving the table they went over to the buffet for a drink and the Chevalier, now in tremendous good humour, ordered and paid for two goblets of champagne. Roger had heard of the wine but never drunk it, as it was still a great luxury in England and rarely seen except at private supper parties given in London by the richer members of the fashionable world. He found it rather too thin for his taste but the effervescence intrigued his palate and when he had drunk it a warm glow ran through him.

'This is no place to celebrate our good fortune,' remarked De Roubec, as he finished his champagne. 'What say you now to paying our respects to the ladies?'

The generous wine and his luck at the tables had made Roger feel that this was the best of all possible worlds and ripe for anything, so, without a thought as to what he might be letting himself in for, he readily agreed.

Following De Roubec's example he made a generous contribution to a box 'for destitute gamblers'—which was actually one of Monsieur Tricot's sources of income—before leaving, and tipped both the cashier and the doorman who let them out, thereby relinquishing fourteen of his francs, but that seemed a small price to pay for two hours of such profitable entertainment.

Out in the ill-lit street once more, they took a side turning, which led off from the Rue de Paris past the Church of Notre Dame and brought them back to the water-front. A hundred yards along it, De Roubec halted in front of a house where bright lights showed through the chinks of nearly all the shutters and from which came the sound of fiddles and laughter.

On knocking, they were let in by a coal-black negro, but De Roubec seemed to know the place well and waving the grinning black aside led the way upstairs. The whole of the first floor here was also one big salon, but it had none of the subdued elegance of Monsieur Tricot's apartment. Its decorations were both gaudy and tawdry and instead of quiet decorum a spirit of dissolute abandon pervaded the place.

As a hugely fat woman, who appeared to be bursting out of her black satin dress, came forward to greet them Roger took in the scene, his eyes almost popping from his head. He had, of course, heard that such houses existed in London and other great cities but none of his friends had ever been to one and he had never imagined them to be like this.

In one corner three fiddlers on a low dais were sawing away at their violins; the other corners and sides of the room were occupied by small tables at most of which sat men with girls in varying states of semi-nudity, while in the centre of the floor, eight or ten others, mostly women, were executing a wild version of a country dance; in which, every time the partners met, instead of simply taking hands they embraced, kissed and mauled each other.

The Chevalier tapped Roger on the arm, drawing his attention back to the fat woman and said, 'This is the Widow Scarron,' but he did not give Roger's name, and added with a sly grin: 'She is called so, after the puritanical mistress of Louis XIV's old age, in ironical jest.'

'The Madame' had little black eyes half hidden in rolls of fat, her cheeks were white sacks heavily daubed .with rouge and her fleshy mouth was painted a violent red. She gave a hideous leer at Roger then said to the Chevalier

'What a handsome young man! Why, my girls will claw one another's eyes out to get at him,' and, as she led them to a corner table, she added, sotto voce, some lewd jest that Roger did not catch but which caused De Roubec to burst out laughing.

They were no sooner seated at the table than a hunchbacked waiter hurried over to them bringing an ice bucket in which was thrust a bottle of champagne.

' 'Tis indifferent stuff,' remarked De Roubec, 'and the price charged for it exorbitant; but custom demands that we should buy it by way of entrance fee to this Temple of Venus.' As the Chevalier had paid for the drinks at the gaming-house Roger felt that it was up to him to pay for the bottle and with a tip to the waiter it cost him twelve francs.

He was already half regretting that he had accepted De Roubec's suggestion that they should pay 'their respects to the ladies'; as he had had a vague idea that the Chevalier simply meant to take him to some public assembly rooms where they could join in the dancing, and this water-front brothel was much stronger meat than he had bargained for. The place held for him all the excitement of something new and wicked but at the same time it was vaguely frightening. It reminded him of some of Mr. Hogarth's pictures, and might well have been one of them brought to raucous and sordid life.

But he was given little time to decide whether he was glad or sorry that this experience had, willy-nilly, been thrust upon him. Having seen them to their table, madame had at once left them to whip up the disengaged among her team, and the waiter had scarcely opened the champagne before the table was surrounded by a dozen young women immodestly displaying their charms and loudly vying with one another for the patronage of the newcomers.

They all looked young by candlelight but close inspection showed most of them to have left their teens far