Not that he played for anything more than an occasional louis; nor, on the other hand, was he merely a cold looker-on.

He had a bank-note or two in his pocket on most evenings at the service of the victims of the tables.

But the pleasure to his curious and dilettante mind lay in the spectacle of the battle which was waged night after night between raw nature and good manners.
It was extraordinary to him how constantly manners prevailed.

There were, however, exceptions.
For instance.

On the first evening of this particular visit he found the rooms hot, and sauntered out into the little semicircular garden at the back.