The only liberty we are vindicating, so far as I can see, is
that of gaming as much as we please, and if we do that, and nothing
more, we shall certainly not go between the red columns for it. A fine
or a few months of banishment to the mainland would be the worst that
could happen. As things are now, we are not only in danger of losing
our heads at any moment, which is an affair of merely relative
importance, but we may be tempted to make light of a solemn promise,
which seems to me a very grave matter."
Thereupon Venier looked round the table, and almost all the men were of
his opinion. Contarini flushed angrily, but he knew himself to be in the
wrong and though he was no coward, he had not the sort of temper that
faces opposition for its own sake. He therefore began to rattle the dice
in the box as a hint to all that the discussion was at an end.
But his good fortune seemed gone, and instead of winning at almost every
throw, as he had won in the afternoon, he soon found that he had almost
exhausted the heap of gold he had laid on the table, and which he had
thought more than enough. He staked the remainder with Foscari, who won
it at a cast, and laughed.
"You offered us our revenge," said the big man. "We mean to take it!"
But though Contarini was not a good fighter, he was a good gamester, and
never allowed himself to be disturbed by ill-luck.
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