. A vagabond courtier; from the memoirs and letters of Baron Charles Louis von Pöllnitz. ead for an hour or two. ThenI go out and pay visits, or go to the promenade. Ioften go to the play, quite as much because I like itas to avoid playing at cards, for you cannot enter ahouse without having cards put into your hands. WhenI come out of the play—to which I go more, if I can, thanto the opera—I go to the house of some acquaintance,—and here I must contradict myself, for there I haveto take part in a game of quadrille for my money, forI do not know what it is to win. They give me a goodsupper and
. A vagabond courtier; from the memoirs and letters of Baron Charles Louis von Pöllnitz. ead for an hour or two. ThenI go out and pay visits, or go to the promenade. Ioften go to the play, quite as much because I like itas to avoid playing at cards, for you cannot enter ahouse without having cards put into your hands. WhenI come out of the play—to which I go more, if I can, thanto the opera—I go to the house of some acquaintance,—and here I must contradict myself, for there I haveto take part in a game of quadrille for my money, forI do not know what it is to win. They give me a goodsupper and then I take a second hand at quadrille, andsometimes a third, and I return with an empty purse atthree in the morning. One must look upon this mania for gambling whichhas taken possession of nearly all French people asone of the scourges of France. I do not know how anation which can scarcely sit still for a quarter of anhour, and who are generally bored wherever they are,can sit for five or six hours handling cards. It is,nevertheless, a necessary infliction, especially for a. THE VAGRANT 359 foreigner, who would otherwise be reduced to cutting avery foolish figure if he is not yet quite initiated intothe customs of the country. The ladies say of a manthat does not play that he is a useless stick of the most impassioned lovers cease to make lovewhen it is a question of cards. Yet there do exist houses where this mania forgambling is less epidemic ; people say that houses ofthe legal world are less subject to this contagion, but Ido not frequent them enough to know any is certain that at Court there is more play than else-where, and that many nobles have gone off their headsfrom having had the honour of playing with the Majesty usually plays lansquenet. The game istwo dealers and a louis dor on the cards. The King andthe principal dealers, like the Comte de Toulouse andthe Due dAntin, go two louis dor, and sometimes King is
Size: 1266px × 1975px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcourtsandcourtiers
