He knew this, and yet he yielded to the fascination of her presence.
Night after night he haunted the rooms in the Rue du Faubourg, St.
Honore. He went there even when he was too poor to play, and could only
stand behind Paulina's chair, a patient and devoted cavalier.
For a long time she seemed to be scarcely aware of his devotion. She
received him as she received her other guests. She met him always with
the same cold smile; the same studied courtesy. But one evening, when
he went to her apartments earlier than usual, he found her alone, and
in a melancholy mood.
Then, for the first time, he became aware that the life she led was
odious to her; that she loathed the hateful vice of which she was the
slave. She was wont to be very silent about herself and her own
feelings; but that night she cast aside all reserve, and spoke with a
passionate earnestness, which made her seem doubly charming to Reginald
Eversleigh.
"I am so degraded a creature that, perhaps, you have never troubled
yourself to wonder how I became the thing I am," she said; "and yet you
must surely have marvelled to see a woman of high birth fallen to the
depths in which you find me; fallen so low as to be the companion of
gamesters, a gamester myself. I will tell you the secret of my life."
Reginald Eversleigh lifted his hand with a deprecating gesture.
"Dear madame, tell me nothing, I implore you.
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