The Gambler — Chapter I

The tutor returns from two weeks’ leave to Roulettenberg and senses a shift: the General greets him coldly, Maria Philipovna is detached, and the household appears suddenly flush. The General changes large notes, assigns the tutor to avoid the Casino with the children, and, while admonishing his gambling, gives him 100 thalers from money held in trust.

Displaying new wealth, the party rides out in style with Mlle. Blanche, her mother, and a French marquis (“Monsieur le Comte”). At luncheon, the tutor, slighted yet seated thanks to Mr. Astley, provokes the marquis with a nationalist tirade and an anecdote about defying a church official in Paris. The General is angered; Mr. Astley is quietly approving.

Later, walking with Polina, the tutor delivers only 700 gulden from her pawned diamonds, far less than she expected. Polina reveals urgent need for money and news from St. Petersburg that her wealthy grandmother is gravely ill; all await her death and will. The marquis, aware of this, has begun courting Polina, while Mlle. Blanche positions herself for the General if the inheritance arrives.

The tutor urges Polina toward the richer, honorable Englishman, Mr. Astley, but Polina coolly praises the marquis’s status and needles the tutor. She orders him to take the 700 gulden and win money at roulette for her.

Alone, the tutor wrestles with his volatile love-hate for Polina, recognizing her power over him and his own desperation. Determined to fulfill her command and decipher the household’s new intrigues, he heads toward the roulette tables.