"Now, isn't that a typical Frenchwoman? She really did feel ill, she
really saw nothing in my cards, and, being an honest woman, she did not
feel that she could ask us to pay! Then, when we had gone away, leaving
only five francs, her thrift got the better of her honesty; she felt she
had thrown away ten good francs! She therefore called us back, and gave
us what she took to be very excellent advice. You see, I had told her
that I am a gambler. She knows, as we all know, that to play for money
is a foolish thing to do. She is aware that in Paris it is not very easy
for a stranger to obtain admittance--especially if that stranger be a
respectable woman--to a gambling club. She therefore said to herself,
'I will give this lady far more than ten francs' worth of advice. I will
tell her not to go away! As long as she remains in Paris she cannot lose
her money. If she goes to Dieppe, Trouville, any place where there is a
Casino, she will lose her money. Therefore I am giving her invaluable
advice--worth far more than the ten francs which she ought to be made
to give me, and which she shall be made to give me!'"

"I suppose you are right," said Sylvia thoughtfully. "And yet--and
yet--she certainly spoke very seriously, did she not, Anna? She seemed
quite honestly--in fact, terribly afraid that we should go away
together."

"But there is no idea of our going away together," said Madame Wolsky,
rather crossly. "I only wish there were! You are going on to Switzerland
to join your friends, and as for me, in spite of Madame Cagliostra's
mysterious predictions, I shall, of course, go to some place--I think it
will be Dieppe (I like the Dieppe Casino the best)--where I can play. And
the memory of you, my dear little English friend, will be my mascot. You
heard her say that I should be fortunate--that I should have an
extraordinary run of good fortune?"