DAMPED BY "DOUGH" 



peace. As luck would have it, too, that Sunday was 

 succeeded by a Bank Holiday. How in former times 

 he would have revelled in the peaceful bliss of two 

 days immune from the close finance with cheques 

 and what not ! Instead of which he jingled sovereigns 

 in his pocket, looked at his odd bits of "bijouterie " — 

 all on him ; regarded his new cheque-book, and could 

 not think of anyone to draw a cheque for, and — 

 wanted no ready 1 It was meaningless to go to the 

 Savoy and pay ; by pulling out the gold it seemed 

 extravagant. Then at Romano's in the evening he 

 did not have the same pleasure in looking round to see 

 who was there ; he wanted no information about 

 horses, for he was not allowed to bet. There was no 

 need to join another man's table to put heads together 

 to know where they could possibly get a hundred till 

 the weather broke. The chink of the sovereigns and 

 the rustle of the ten-pound notes when he pulled out 

 his pocket-book to find a newspaper cutting were to an 

 extent an irritant. Curiously, his intimate friends had 

 not yet learnt of his luck. Romano's account had been 

 paid, and it seemed ridiculous to hand back the ready 

 pencil which was handed to him to sign his bill. Luigi 

 is a man never to be astonished at anything ; he misses 

 nothing, he must have put it down to a temporary 

 success — or eccentricity. On the Monday he cursed 

 himself that he hadn't gone away somewhere. He 

 could not go to the races, and it all appeared so empty. 

 There is no need to prolong it; he became quite 

 misanthropic, until one day someone with a dominating 

 personality took a fancy to him and told him she was 

 determined to marry him. I can suppose that it 

 saved his reason. 



In looking round London after an absence it was 

 surprising to see the growth of the Bohemian night 



339 



