Gambling is a disease of superficially civilized barbarians. -William Ralph Inge
Arnage France June 2, 1926. The local high society is having a friendly card game at their usual weekly social gathering. A mysterious woman of great beauty and coppery gaze, recently arrived in town from Alsace, is invited to join this high priced and selective card game.
Her elegant appearance would soon leave all the attendees dazzled and in an inexplicable way; she manages to make all the ladies present very nervous. No one expects the level of bets that this beautiful lady, whose luxurious finery is a strong statement of her wealthy financial position, is willing to make. Her command of the local language is outstanding, as she speaks it without an accent and in such an aristocratic manner; that suddenly some began to remember the distinguished way her grandparents expressed themselves.
In spite of those impeccable and noble manners, it is obvious that she is a foreigner and those impressive physical traits become indecipherable in order to determine her origin.
Those ladies, with their great beauty and all their noble titles, could not help but be intrigued by the impression made on them by such a mysterious and elegant lady with black hair and a deep copper-colored gaze.
After a superb dinner, while a talented pianist entertained the guests, the gentlemen smoked their cigars and talked about finances while the ladies commented on the latest fashions that had been presented weeks ago in Paris. Immediately, the dance opened and the music came from an interesting device called phonograph. This was a new model whose sound promised; a superb fidelity that was capable of making you think that you had right there the philharmonic orchestra performing at the Parisian opera.
Angelas Ladies Dressed-sketch
Three of the most prissy and wealthy ladies at that meeting were commenting about the gorgeous lady who had just arrived. They were Baroness Margot de Rohan-Chabot, Countess Anne-Victorie Antoine Antonelle and Duchess Angelique de Froissy. They found many aspects to criticize in the insinuating behavior of this woman of sinuous and exuberant figure.
On the other hand, the empire of that charming personality and sublime hips made them succumb to a peculiar and unusual series of sensations, which all of them preferred to keep secret in order to maintain their own demureness as honest and exemplary ladies.
The gentlemen went to the gaming table, the mysterious lady took her place and immediately deposited 50 thousand francs to back up the chips she had been assigned to play with. Everything was proceeding in the usual manner in which these games were played on a weekly basis. The noble husbands of the aforementioned ladies were playing at that table and found it somewhat difficult to conceal their fascination for that beautiful gambler whose bets did not cease to increase the sums at stake. They were pleased with the way that lady was losing 3 out of 5 games.
It was a somewhat peculiar situation that happened when this monumental woman lost the game; her bet reached figures of considerable value. On the other hand, when she had a good hand, the amount at stake was not so impressive.
This detail went unnoticed by the great majority of those gentlemen, who were fascinated by the vertiginous way in which they were enriching themselves at the expense of the gambling anxieties that this carefree and dazzling damsel seemed to be unable to restrain.
In a matter of an hour; the game was reaching a proportion never seen in those noble meetings, the conversation was becoming as interesting as the monetary sums that were being placed on the table. They all seemed to be very pleased with the gratifying company that adorned that game, and this increased as their pockets grew fatter, it was a match made in heaven.
Angela Gambling Dressed-
There was a short pause, which the servants would take advantage of to refill the glasses with Cognac and light the gentlemen's cigars, that lady was smiling while the charm of her gaze seemed to be bewitching everyone present as she spoke.
"Do you think it's appropriate if we raise the stakes here? I would like to give a greater degree of excitement to this game," she said.
They all agreed, and their gazes seemed to be lost in infinity, as soon as they saw another large wad of bills come out of the purse of that mysterious and sensual brunette! That totaled about 100,000 francs. Immediately, they all put at stake; all the cash and valuables they had with them in order to match that great bet, the respective changes of cards were made after they were dealt.
Duke Victor de Froissy put on the table his imperial flower, which made him an immensely rich man, besides being the resounding and undisputed winner of that game. There were inevitable whispers that began, when they saw how that mysterious lady named Angela had lost a considerable capital in a single hand. They found it implausible that, despite having run out of money, she would insist on continuing to play when the cards were dealt again.
Angela looked at everyone present and expressed a firm will to go on, she was determined to continue; no matter what the cost! To do so; she pulled out some title deeds related to an apartment on Avenue George V in Paris and added the documents for her brand-new car; a Marmon Speedster E75, just brought by ship from New York last month. In this way, everyone could be pleased by the subtle caress that greed was giving them, by adding a great interest to the game.
The cards were dealt again, the cold expressions of those players seemed to become indecipherable. No one was sure of having the best game, despite the desire they were all feeling for a luxurious apartment in Paris, which was also located in one of the best areas of the city, others were powerfully attracted by the possibility of having that powerful convertible car, recently imported to the country.
