Will You Love Me in September

I had noticed that one of the young men who came to Lance's gambling parties was interested in Aimee. Not that other men had not been, but with Eddy Moreton it was different. He was a tall, rather gangling young man, with very fair hair, pale-blue eyes, a rather prominent nose and a weak chin. He was an inveterate gambler, and I had heard that he once won fifty thousand pounds in one night at the gambling tables in one of the London clubs and lost it before the week was out. He was the younger son of a rich father, but he had quickly got through his inheritance, and the rest of the family frowned on his activities. All the same he was a likable person, always good-natured, happy-go-lucky, and always ready to take a gamble.

I mentioned him to Aimee, for I had always thought it would be a good idea for her to settle down and marry. She was young, attractive, and she needed someone who would be a father to Jean-Louis.

"I like Eddy," she said, "but he has nothing but his winnings. If I had had your luck with the Bubble, I wouldn't have to consider these things. As it is ... what would we live on?”

"I believe he is fond of you, and if you loved him... .”

"You can't live on love, sister.”

All the same, I think she liked Eddy. She certainly led him to believe she did.

He came to dine with us in the country. This was significant, because during dinner the conversation turned to my bezoar ring.

I think it was Madame Legrand who brought it up. She was always present at our dinner parties, and sometimes would join the players. Lance had told me that she had good luck. "It might have been beginner's luck," he added, "for she has not played very much before.”

They were talking about the past, and somehow the subject of the Borgias came up.

"It was easy in the old days," said Eddy, "if you wanted to get rid of people you didn't want around. You asked them to dine and . . ? hey, presto ... they partook of the delicious dish Of what shall we say? Lampreys? Sucking pig? It didn't matter which, for that took care of them. Those people developed poison to a fine art. No taste. No smell. Nothing suspicious, therefore.”

"It is why they had the bezoar rings," put in Madame Legrand. "Clarissa has one.

Do you wear it today, Clarissa? You do. Oh, then you are safe.”

Everyone laughed.

"You know what it is?" I said. "It's formed in the stomachs of certain animals. It absorbs poison. That's why Queen Elizabeth had one. Quite a number of monarchs had them in the past.”

Everyone was enormously interested, and the ring was passed round the table.

"It was stolen by that unscrupulous maid of Clarissa's," said Lance. "She found it by a miracle. Tell them about it, Clarissa.”

So I told how I had seen the ring in a shop window.

"A chance in a million," said Eddy, awestruck.

"What a pity that you did not bet on my finding it!" I said.

They laughed and the ring was handed back to me.

The tables were set up in the usual manner, and after seeing them all settled I went upstairs. Madame Legrand accompanied me.

"They will play into the early hours of the morning," she said, "lavish that Aimee had not such a taste for this gambling.”

"It's a pity," I agreed. "They win, then they lose. It all seems such a waste of time.”

"And dear Lance, he has this love of the gamble, has he not?”

I nodded ruefully, and she lifted her shoulders, kissed me and said good night.

Lance came up eventually. I was half asleep. He came in, went to the dressing table, and went out again. Now I was fully awake, wondering what this meant.

Shortly afterward he came back.

He was in a rather sober mood, so I guessed that his losses must have been great to have that effect on him.

"Is everything all right, Lance?" I asked.

He was silent for a few moments, and I sat up in bed to look at him more closely.

"Don't worry," he said. "Just a bit of bad luck. I think we drank too much wine at dinner ... and we were drinking afterward. Drink makes you do foolish things.”

"Have your losses been so great, then? Tell me. What have you lost?”

"Let me explain," he said. "I want you to see it as it happened. We were all very merry ... as I said, the wine ... and we played poker. The stakes were getting rather high when Eddy said he was finished. He could bet no more, for if he lost he would be so deeply in debt that he would never get out of it.”

"It seems he has come to his senses at last.”