It could be seen too in his dogged assertion that if
he had been given enough time and a lot more money everything would have
come right. And there were some people (yes, amongst his very victims)
who more than half believed him, even after the criminal prosecution
which soon followed. When placed in the dock he lost his steadiness as
if some sustaining illusion had gone to pieces within him suddenly. He
ceased to be himself in manner completely, and even in disposition, in so
far that his faded neutral eyes matching his discoloured hair so well,
were discovered then to be capable of expressing a sort of underhand
hate. He was at first defiant, then insolent, then broke down and burst
into tears; but it might have been from rage. Then he calmed down,
returned to his soft manner of speech and to that unassuming quiet
bearing which had been usual with him even in his greatest days. But it
seemed as though in this moment of change he had at last perceived what a
power he had been; for he remarked to one of the prosecuting counsel who
had assumed a lofty moral tone in questioning him, that--yes, he had
gambled--he liked cards.
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