Page:Hoffmann's Strange Stories - Hoffman - 1855.djvu/398

 The chevalier alone preserved his coldness, and seeing that every body was leaving, asked if it was the custom to quit play before the usual hour on account of a young madman who did not know how to conduct himself. This accident caused a great sensation. The unexampled conduct of the chevalier disgusted the most hardened gamblers; there was universal disapproval, and the police suppressed Menars' bank. He was accused, besides, of fraudulent practices; his singular luck gave only too much weight to this accusation. He could not defend himself, and the enormous fine that was imposed upon him deprived him of a great part of his riches. He saw himself insulted, shamed;—he then returned to the arms of his wife, who, in spite of his ill treatment, willingly received him in his repentance; for the remembrance of her father, who had thus abjured the irregularity of gaming, allowed her to catch a gleam of hope, and the ripened age of the chevalier was another reason for her to believe his conversion real and durable. They both left Paris and went to Genoa, the birthplace of Angela.

The chevalier lived there at first in a very retired manner; but he could never rëestablish those sweet domestic relations that his evil genius had destroyed. The calm was of short duration. His bad reputation had followed him from Paris to Genoa, and in spite of the almost irresistible temptation which he felt to open a bank, he was absolutely forbidden to do so.

At this time the richest bank in Genoa was kept by a French colonel, who had been forced by serious wounds to quit the service. The chevalier presented himself at this bank with mixed feelings of envy and hatred, but with the idea that his habitual luck would soon enable him to ruin his rival. At the sight of the chevalier, the colonel, with a gaiety which contrasted strongly with his usually serious manners, said that from that moment alone, gambling received for him a real attraction, when it became necessary to struggle against the luck of chevalier Menars. The cards were in