The Gambler — Chapter XV

Alexis, giddy over his winnings, arranges banknotes and impulsively offers Polina 50,000 francs to throw in De Griers’ face. Polina swings between contempt and desperate affection, laughing, weeping, and clinging to Alexis through the night, speaking feverishly of Astley and fanciful plans. Alexis is intoxicated by her sudden tenderness.

At dawn, Polina, looking ill and estranged, demands the promised money only to hurl it at Alexis and flee. Confused and blaming her pride and sickness, Alexis hides his cash and goes to find her. Hotel gossip erupts about the General, the Grandmother’s ruin, and Alexis’s win. He rushes to the Hotel d’Angleterre.

Mr. Astley informs Alexis that Polina is in his rooms, ill, that she had intended to join him but “mistakenly” went to Alexis the previous night, and that he has sent for a doctor. Astley coolly predicts Alexis will soon leave and says the family has effectively collapsed. Shaken, Alexis departs.

Blanche summons Alexis, flirts brazenly, and proposes he fund her with 50,000 francs in Frankfurt, then live wildly in Paris. After a teasing rebuff, Alexis, disoriented and feeling severed from his past, hastily settles his bill and joins Blanche and her mother on the train, while she laughs about outwitting the General and using him later in Paris.

As the train departs, Alexis broods that he will return to Roulettenberg soon, yet yields to Blanche’s scheme to squander his winnings, marking a reckless turn away from Polina and any hope of repairing the shattered household.