Capitalists and financiers -- Fiction; Commercial crimes -- Fiction; London (England) -- Fiction; Mate selection -- Fiction; Satire
It has been told how the gambling at the Beargarden went on one
Sunday night. On the following Monday Sir Felix did not go to the
club. He had watched Miles Grendall at play, and was sure that on
more than one or two occasions the man had cheated. Sir Felix did not
quite know what in such circumstances it would be best for him to do.
Reprobate as he was himself, this work of villainy was new to him and
seemed to be very terrible. What steps ought he to take? He was quite
sure of his facts, and yet he feared that Nidderdale and Grasslough
and Longestaffe would not believe him. He would have told Montague,
but Montague had, he thought, hardly enough authority at the club to
be of any use to him. On the Tuesday again he did not go to the club.
He felt severely the loss of the excitement to which he had been
accustomed, but the thing was too important to him to be slurred
over. He did not dare to sit down and play with the man who had
cheated him without saying anything about it. On the Wednesday
afternoon life was becoming unbearable to him and he sauntered into
the building at about five in the afternoon. There, as a matter of
course, he found Dolly Longestaffe drinking sherry and bitters.
"Where the blessed angels have you been?" said Dolly. Dolly was at
that moment alert with the sense of a duty performed. He had just
called on his sister and written a sharp letter to his father, and
felt himself to be almost a man of business.
"I've had fish of my own to fry," said Felix, who had passed the last
two days in unendurable idleness. Then he referred again to the money
which Dolly owed him, not making any complaint, not indeed asking for
immediate payment, but explaining with an air of importance that if
a commercial arrangement could be made, it might, at this moment, be
very serviceable to him. "I'm particularly anxious to take up those
shares," said Felix.
"Of course you ought to have your money."
"I don't say that at all, old fellow. I know very well that you're
all right. You're not like that fellow, Miles Grendall."
"Well; no. Poor Miles has got nothing to bless himself with. I
suppose I could get it, and so I ought to pay."
"That's no excuse for Grendall," said Sir Felix, shaking his head.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account