Henry's heart was beating like a hammer. Even now he was afraid lest one of the scoundrels who, according to the magazine article, infested the rooms, might lean over his shoulder and snatch his lawful gains. He kept an eye lifting. The croupier threw a five-franc piece to join his own, and Henry, with elaborate calmness, picked both pieces up. His temperature fell; he breathed more easily. 'It's nothing, after all,' he thought. 'Of course, on that system I'm bound to win.' Soon afterwards the old man in front of him grunted and left, and Henry slipped into the vacant chair. In half an hour he had made twenty francs; his demeanour had hardened; he felt as though he had frequented Monte Carlo steadily for years; and what he did not know about the art and craft of roulette was apocryphal. 'Place this for me,' said a feminine voice. He turned swiftly. It was Cosette's voice! There she stood, exquisitely and miraculously dressed, behind his chair, holding a note of the Bank of France in her gloved hand! 'When did you come?' he asked loudly, in his extreme astonishment. '_Pstt!_' she smilingly admonished him for breaking the rule of the saloons. 'Place this for me.' It was a note for a thousand francs. 'This?' he said. 'Yes.' 'But where?' 'Choose,' she whispered. 'You are lucky. You will bring happiness.' He did not know what he was doing, so madly whirled his brain, and, as the black enclosure happened to be nearest to him, he dropped the note there. The croupier at the end of the table manoeuvred it with his rake, and called out to the centre: '_Billet de mille francs._' Then, when it was too late, Henry recollected that black had already turned up three times together. But in a moment black had won. 'I can quite understand the fascination this game has for people,' Henry thought. 'Leave them there,' said Cosette, pointing to the two notes for a thousand francs each. 'I like to follow the run.' Black won again. 'Leave them there,' said Cosette, pointing to the four notes for a thousand francs each. 'I did say you would bring happiness.' They smiled at each other happily. Black won again. Cosette repeated her orders. Such a method of playing was entirely contrary to Henry's expert opinion. Nevertheless, black, in defiance of rules, continued to win. When sixteen thousand francs of paper lay before Henry, the croupier addressed him sharply, and he gathered, with Cosette's assistance, that the maximum stake was twelve thousand francs. 'Put four thousand on the odd numbers,' said Cosette. 'Eh? You think?' 'No,' said Henry. 'Evens.' And the number four turned up again. At a stroke he had won sixteen thousand francs, six hundred and forty pounds, for Cosette, and the total gains were one thousand two hundred and forty pounds. The spectators were at last interested in Henry's play. It was no longer an illusion on his part that people stared at him. 'Say a number,' whispered Cosette. 'Shut the eyes and say a number.'