“Done!” said the Colonel, putting his hand in the coxcomb’s. “Meanwhile I am going to look for Soulanges; he perhaps knows the lady, as she seems interested in him.” “You have lost, my good fellow,” cried Martial, laughing. “My eyes have met hers, and I know what they mean. My dear friend, you owe me no grudge for dancing with her after she has refused you?” “No, no. Those who laugh last, laugh longest. But I am an honest gambler and a generous enemy, Martial, and I warn you, she is fond of diamonds.” With these words the friends parted; General Montcornet made his way to the cardroom, where he saw the Comte de Soulanges sitting at a _bouillotte_ table. Though there was no friendship between the two soldiers, beyond the superficial comradeship arising from the perils of war and the duties of the service, the Colonel of Cuirassiers was painfully struck by seeing the Colonel of Artillery, whom he knew to be a prudent man, playing at a game which might bring him to ruin. The heaps of gold and notes piled on the fateful cards showed the frenzy of play. A circle of silent men stood round the players at the table. Now and then a few words were spoken--_pass, play, I stop, a thousand Louis, taken_--but, looking at the five motionless men, it seemed as though they talked only with their eyes. As the Colonel, alarmed by Soulanges’ pallor, went up to him, the Count was winning. Field-Marshal the Duc d’Isemberg, Keller, and a famous banker rose from the table completely cleaned out of considerable sums. Soulanges looked gloomier than ever as he swept up a quantity of gold and notes; he did not even count it; his lips curled with bitter scorn, he seemed to defy fortune rather than be grateful for her favors. “Courage,” said the Colonel. “Courage, Soulanges!” Then, believing he would do him a service by dragging him from play, he added: “Come with me. I have some good news for you, but on one condition.” “What is that?” asked Soulanges. “That you will answer a question I will ask you.” The Comte de Soulanges rose abruptly, placing his winnings with reckless indifference in his handkerchief, which he had been twisting with convulsive nervousness, and his expression was so savage that none of the players took exception to his walking off with their money. Indeed, every face seemed to dilate with relief when his morose and crabbed countenance was no longer to be seen under the circle of light which a shaded lamp casts on a gaming-table. “Those fiends of soldiers are always as thick as thieves at a fair!” said a diplomate who had been looking on, as he took Soulanges’ place. One single pallid and fatigued face turned to the newcomer, and said with a glance that flashed and died out like the sparkle of a diamond: “When we say military men, we do not mean civil, Monsieur le Ministre.”