Lusignan had all at
once become prime favorite, and since yesterday he had been currently
taken at two to one.
"Always fifty to one against," replied Labordette.
"The deuce! I'm not worth much," rejoined Nana, amused by the jest.
"I don't back myself then; no, by jingo! I don't put a single louis on
myself."
Labordette went off again in a great hurry, but she recalled him. She
wanted some advice. Since he kept in touch with the world of trainers
and jockeys he had special information about various stables. His
prognostications had come true a score of times already, and people
called him the "King of Tipsters."
"Let's see, what horses ought I to choose?" said the young woman.
"What's the betting on the Englishman?"
"Spirit? Three to one against. Valerio II, the same. As to the others,
they're laying twenty-five to one against Cosinus, forty to one
against Hazard, thirty to one against Bourn, thirty-five to one against
Pichenette, ten to one against Frangipane."
"No, I don't bet on the Englishman, I don't. I'm a patriot. Perhaps
Valerio II would do, eh? The Duc de Corbreuse was beaming a little while
ago. Well, no, after all! Fifty louis on Lusignan; what do you say to
that?"
Labordette looked at her with a singular expression.
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