This would be cheek-by-jowl with a bet that an heir would be born to one new-married pair before another pair.

The very last bet made on the day I opened the book was that Queen Victoria would make Lord Salisbury a duke, that a certain gentleman known as S.S.could find his own door in St.James's Square, blindfold, from the club, and that Corsair would win the Derby.
"For two long hours I sat forgetful of everything around me, while I read that record--to me the most interesting the world could show.

Every line was part of the history of the country, a part of the history of many lives, and it was all part of the ritual of the temple of the great god Chance.

I was fascinated, lost in a land of wonders.

Men came and went, but silently.