'
'He wouldn't do that, sir, I am sure.'
'Nor would you take it. There is nothing so comfortable as money,--
but nothing so defiling if it be come by unworthily; nothing so
comfortable, but nothing so noxious if the mind be allowed to
dwell upon it constantly. If a man have enough, let him spend it
freely. If he wants it, let him earn it honestly. Let him do
something for it, so that the man who pays it to him may get its
value. But to think that it may be got by gambling, to hope to
live after that fashion, to sit down with your fingers almost in
your neighbours' pockets, with your eye on his purse, trusting
that you may know better than he some studied calculations as to
the pips concealed in your hands, praying to the only god you
worship that some special card may be vouchsafed to you,--that I
say is to have left far, far behind you, all nobility, all
gentleness, all manhood! Write me down Lord Percival's address
and I will send him the money.
Then the Duke wrote a cheque for the money claimed and sent it
with a note as follows:
'The Duke of Omnium presents his compliments to Lord Percival.
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