Bernard Capes

“ I had been lunching at Simpson's in the Strand, and, my meal finished, had gone up into the smoking-room for a coffee and liqueur. This is a famous corner of a famous caravansary, being dedicate, like no other smoking-room I know, to the service of the most ancient and most royal game of chess, many of whose leading professors forgather therein, as it were, in an informal club, for the mixed purposes of sociability and play. There one may watch astounding mental conflicts which leave one's brain in a whirl ”

“ Adapted to anecdote, moreover, his habit of secrecy, of non-committal, made for a sort of ghostly humour which was as titillating as it was elusive; and the faint aroma of snuff, which was never absent from him, seemed somehow the appropriate atmosphere for such airy quibbles. ”

“ I would not venture to break into his preoccupation, but passed him by and took a convenient seat in the window.
'Stothard has found his match,' remarked a casual acquaintance who lounged near me, nodding his head towards the pair.
'Who is it?' I asked. 'Do you know?
'I know his name,' was the answer, 'Le Sage, an out-of-pocket French Baron; but that's all.'
'O! out of pocket, is he?'
'I've no right to say it, perhaps, but I only surmise—he'll play you for a half-crown at any time, if you're rash enough to venture. He plays a wonderful game.'
'Is he new to the place?'
'O, no! ”