But the Irritating Woman was not to be convinced that her opinions were either ill-formed or in the least distorted. She had never been present at a Carnival ball, she admitted, but it had been described to her by two estimable ladies who had, and that was, for her, sufficient. They were a pair of pious souls, and would, of course, never exaggerate to the length of a lie. Dinner over, the ladies retired, and Hickman and myself were left to smoke and gossip. He was certainly a very ugly man, and at times asserted an overbearing superiority in conversation; but having watched him very closely, I at length arrived at the conclusion that this was his natural manner, and was not intended to be offensive. Indeed, ever since that first moment when I had entered and been introduced, he had shown himself to be very pleasant and affable towards me. "Poor Miss Wells!" he laughed, after the door had closed. "She's so infernally positive about everything. It would be as good as an entertainment to induce her to expound her views upon religious matters." "Any argument seems utterly useless," I remarked. "Do you know Nice well?" he inquired, after reflecting a moment. "I've spent three winters there," I answered. "And at Monte Carlo, I suppose?" "Yes, of course," I responded, laughing. "I suppose scarcely any man goes to Nice without going over to Monty and risking a few louis." "Were you lucky?" "So, so. One season I won five thousand francs. In fact, I've never lost on the whole season. I've always left the Riviera with some of the bank's money." "Then you can heartily congratulate yourself," he said, "I'm the reverse. I generally lose. Do you believe in any system at roulette?" "No; they are all frauds," I answered promptly. "Except one," he interposed. "There's one based on the law of averages, which must turn up in your favour if you're only patient enough. The reason why it is so difficult is because it's such a long and tedious affair." "Explain it," I urged, for a new system that was infallible was, to me, of greatest interest. I had, in the days before my blindness, made a study of the chances at roulette, and had played carefully upon principles which had, to me, appeared most natural. The result had been that with care I had won--not much, it was true--but it was better than leaving one's money to swell the company's dividends.