certainly did not expect me, and must have taken me for his evil genius.
He bowed to me with great politeness, and begged that I would listen to a
few words in private.

"Here are fifty sequins more," he said; "but as an honest man you can
take them only to give them to Madame Querini. But how can you hand the
amount to her without letting her know that you have forced me to refund
it? You understand what consequences such a confession might have for
me."

"I shall give her the money only when you have left this place; in the
mean time I promise to be discreet, but be careful not to assist fortune
in my presence, or I must act in a manner that will not be agreeable to
you."

"Double the capital of my bank, and we can be partners."

"Your proposal is an insult."

He gave me fifty sequins, and I promised to keep his secret.

There was a numerous attendance in Narici's rooms, especially of young
men, who after dinner lost all their money. I did not play, and it was a
disappointment for my pretty hostess, who had invited me only because she
had judged me as simple as the others. I remained an indifferent witness
of the play, and it gave me an opportunity of realizing how wise Mahomet
had been in forbidding all games of chance.

In the evening after the opera Count Celi had the faro bank, and I lose
two hundred sequins, but I could only accuse ill luck. Madame Querini