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... ave fought a duel, if challenged. "For,"
she added, "I can see no difference between you and the Baron;
nor can I bear that German visage of yours." Upon this the
landlord bowed and departed, though he could not have understood
the Grandmother's compliment.
"Pardon me, Madame," the General continued with a sneer, "but
are duels really feasible?"
"Why not? All men are crowing cocks, and that is why they
quarrel. YOU, though, I perceive, are a blockhead--a man who does
not even know how to carry his breeding. Lift me up. Potapitch,
see to it that you always have TWO bearers ready. Go and arrange
for their hire. But we shall not require more than two, for I
shall need only to be carried upstairs. On the level or in the
street I can be WHEELED along. Go and tell them that, and pay
them in advance, so that they may show me some respect. You too,
Potapitch, are always to come with me, and YOU, Alexis
Ivanovitch, are to point out to me this Baron as we go along, in
order that I may get a squint at the precious 'Von.' And where
is that roulette played?"
I explained to her that the game was carried on in the salons of
the Casino; whereupon there ensued a string of questions as to
whether there were many such salons, whether many people played
in them, whether those people played a whole day at a time, and
whether the game was managed according to fixed rules.
At length,
I thought it best to say that the most advisable course would be
for her to go and see it for herself, since a mere description
of t v s it would be a difficult matter.
"Then take me straight there," she said, "and do you walk on
in front of me, Alexis Ivanovitch."
"What, mother? Before you have so much as rested from your
journey?" the General inquired with some solicitude.
Also, for
some reason which I could not divine, he seemed to be growing
nervous; and, indeed, the whole party was evincing signs of
confusion, and exchanging glances with one another. Probably
they were thinking that it would be a ticklish--even an
embarrassing--business to accompany the Grandmother to the
Casino, where, very likely, she would perpetrate further
eccentricities, and in public too! Yet on their own initiative
they had offered to escort her!
"Why should I rest?" she retorted. "I am not tired, for I
have been sitting still these past five days. Let us see what
your medicinal springs and waters are like, and where they are
situated.
What, too, about that, that--what did you call it,
Prascovia?--oh, about that mountain top?"
"Yes, we are going to see it, Grandmamma."
"Very well. Is there anything else for me to see here?"
"Yes! Quite a number of things," Polina forced herself to say.
"Martha, YOU must come with me as well," went on the old lady
to her maid.
"No, no, mother!" ejaculated the General. "Really she cannot
come. They would not admit even Potapitch to the Casino."
"Rubbish! Because she is my servant, is that a reason for
turning her out? Why, she is only a human being like the rest of
us; and as she has been travelling for a week she might like to
look about her.
With whom else could she go out but myself ? She
would never dare to show her nose in the street alone."
"But, mother--"
"Are you ashamed to be seen with me? Stop at home, then, and
you will be asked no questions. A pretty General YOU are, to be
sure! I am a general's widow myself. But, after all, why should
I drag the whole party with me? I will go and see the sights
with only Alexis Ivanovitch as my escort."
De Griers strongly insisted that EVERY ONE ought to accompany
her. Indeed, he launched out into a perfect shower of charming
phrases concerning the pleasure of acting as her cicerone, and
so forth. Every one was touched with his words.
"Mais elle est tombee en enfance," he added aside to the
General. " Seule, elle fera des betises." More than this I could
not overhear, but he seemed to have got some plan in his mind,
or even to be feeling a slight return of his hopes.
The distance to the Casino was about half a verst, and our route
led us through the Chestnut Avenue until we reached the square
directly fronting the building. The General, I could see, was a
trifle reassured by the fact that, though our progress was
distinctly eccentric in its nature, it was, at least, correct
and orderly. As a matter of fact, the spectacle of a person who
is unable to walk is not anything to excite surprise at a spa.
Yet it was clear that the General had a great fear of the Casino
itself: for why should a person who had lost the use of her
limbs--more especially an old woman--be going to rooms which were
set apart only for roulette? On either side of the wheeled chair
walked Polina and Mlle. Blanche--the latter smiling, modestly
jesting, and, in short, making herself so agreeable to the
Grandmother that in the end the old lady relented towards her.
On the other side of the chair Polina had to answer an endless
flow of petty questions--such as "Who was it passed just now?"
"Who is that coming along?" "Is the town a large one?" "Are
the public gardens extensive?" "What sort of trees are those?"
"What is the name of those hills?" "Do I see eagles flying
yonder?" "What is that absurd-looking building?" and so
forth. Meanwhile Astley whispered to me, as he walked by my
side, that he looked for much to happen that morning. Behind the
old lady's chair marched Potapitch and Martha--Potapitch in his
frockcoat and white waistcoat, with a cloak over all, and the
forty-year-old and rosy, but slightly grey-headed, Martha in a
mobcap, cotton dress, and squeaking shoes. Frequently the old
lady would twist herself round to converse with these servants.
As for De Griers, he spoke as though he had made up his mind to
do something (though it is t v s also possible that he spoke in this
manner merely in order to hearten the General, with whom he
appeared to have held a conference). But, alas, the Grandmother
had uttered the fatal words, "I am not going to give you any of
my money;" and though De Griers might regard these words
lightly, the General knew his mother better. Also, I noticed
that De Griers and Mlle. Blanche were still exchanging looks;
while of the Prince and the German savant I lost sight at the
end of the Avenue, where they had turned back and left us.
Into the Casino we marched in triumph. At once, both in the
person of the commissionaire and in the persons of the footmen,
there sprang to life the same reverence as had arisen in the
lacqueys of the hotel. Yet it was not without some curiosity
that they eyed us.
Without loss of time, the Grandmother gave orders that she should
be wheeled through every room in the establishment; of which
apartments she praised a few, while to others she remained
indifferent. Concerning everything, however, she asked
questions.
Finally we reached the gaming-salons, where a lacquey
who was, acting as guard over the doors, flung them open as
though he were a man possessed.
The Grandmother's entry into the roulette-salon produced a
profound impression upon the public.
Around the tables, and at
the further end of the room where the trente-et-quarante table
was set out, there may have been gathered from 150 to 200
gamblers, ranged in several rows. Those who had succeeded in
pushing their way to the tables were standing with their feet
firmly planted, in order to avoid having to give up their places
until they should have finished their game (since merely to
stand looking on--thus occupying a gambler's place for
nothing--was not permitted). True, chairs were provided around
the tables, but few players made use of them--more especially if
there was a large attendance of the general public; since to
stand allowed of a closer approach; and, therefore, of greater
facilities for calculation and staking. Behind the foremost row
were herded a second and a t v s third row of people awaiting their
turn; but sometimes their impatience led these people to
stretch a hand through the first row, in order to deposit their
stakes. Even third-row individuals would dart forward to stake;
whence seldom did more than five or ten minutes pass without a
scene over disputed money arising at one or anoth ... |
