'Why did you do it?'
'I was fascinated - fascinated by Jules. He, too, is a great man. We
had great opportunities, here in the Grand Babylon. It was a great
game. It was worth the candle. The prizes were enormous. You
would admit these things if you knew the facts. Perhaps some day
you will know them, for you are a fairly clever person at getting to
the root of a matter. Yes, I was blinded, hypnotized.'
'And now you are ruined.'
'Not ruined, not ruined. Afterwards, in a few years, I shall come up
again.
A man of genius like me is never ruined till he is dead. Genius is
always forgiven. I shall be forgiven. Suppose I am sent to prison.
When I emerge I shall be no gaol-bird. I shall be Rocco - the great
Rocco. And half the hotels in Europe will invite me to join them.'
'Let me tell you, as man to man, that you have achieved your own
degradation. There is no excuse.'
'I know it,' said Rocco. 'Let us go.'
Racksole was distinctly and notably impressed by this man - by
this master spirit to whom he was to have paid a salary at the rate
of three thousand pounds a year. He even felt sorry for him. And
so, side by side, the captor and the captured, they passed into the
vast deserted corridor of the hotel.
Rocco stopped at the grating of the first lift.
'It will be locked,' said Racksole. 'We must use the stairs to-night.'
'But I have a key. I always carry one,' said Rocco, and he pulled
one out of his pocket, and, unfastening the iron screen, pushed it
open.
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