“Yes, I believe he did,” Lord Lynche replied vaguely, “but we had a lot in the house as it happened. Percy seemed to want to play with his, so I thanked him for bringing them.”

“He wanted to play with his,” Colonel Wakeford said significantly. “Exactly.”

He turned to one of the older men in the room.

“Arthur,” he said, “I would like you to open one of those packs and put it down on the table in front of you.”

The elderly man took a pack from the case, broke the seal and, unwrapping the fresh crisp cards, spread them out in front of him on the green baize table.

“Well?” he asked.

“Justin, do you have a magnifying glass?” Colonel Wakeford enquired.

“I think so,” Lord Lynche replied.

He walked towards a desk and came back with a large magnifying glass with a silver rim and a handle engraved with the Lynche crest.

Colonel Wakeford took it from him and gave it to Lord Arthur.

“Look at the cards closely,” he said.

He picked one up, turned it face down and put it in front of him.

“This one, for instance, it is the ace of spades. Do you see anything peculiar about the back of it?”

Lord Arthur inspected it carefully.

“I am not sure,” he said after a moment.

Colonel Wakeford was searching through the pack.

“This is the king of hearts,” he said and put it down beside the other card, “and here is the king of diamonds.”

“Good Lord!” Lord Arthur ejaculated. “You mean – ”

“I mean what you can see,” Colonel Wakeford said. “The cards are marked.”

“I don’t believe it,” someone cried.

“See for yourself,” Colonel Wakeford replied. “I opened four packs upstairs before I came down here. You see that tiny white marking? It is almost imperceptible unless you know where to look for it. It might have been a printer’s error, but you will find it on every ace and king in the pack. Look for yourselves.”

Hands went out to snatch the cards from the case. The wrappings were thrown on the floor and the cards were spread out.

“It’s true!” someone exclaimed. “By Heaven! I would not have believed it!”

The room was quiet for a moment and then someone sprang to his feet.

“By God, the swine shall pay for this!” he cried. “He took twenty thousand off me last month and I had to go to the money-lenders to pay it. He was cheating – cheating – cheating all the time and we never realised it!”

“I think sometimes he played straight,” Colonel Wakeford said, “but he would egg one on, working up to a kind of climax until a great deal hung on the turn of a card. Then he knew what to play and how to play it.”