The million pound banknote

And I told her - I did, indeed - told her I loved her. Well, she blushed until her hair turned red. But she liked it; she said she did. Oh, there was never such an evening! Every time I marked the score I added a little message; every time she scored she replied to it. I couldn't even say 'Two for this' without adding, 'My, how sweet you do look!' and she would say, 'Two, four, and a pair are eight - oh, do you think so?'. Then she would peep at me from under her eyelashes, you know, and try to look all sweet. Oh, it was just too wonderful!

Well, I was perfectly honest and I told her everything. I said that I hadn't any money at all. All I had was the million-pound note she'd heard so much about, and that note didn't belong to me. That made her curious. Talking quietly I told her the whole story right from the start. It nearly killed her with laughing. I couldn't see what made her laugh, but there it was. Every half-minute some new detail would make her laugh again, and I would have to stop for as much as a minute and a half to give her a chance to stop laughing. She laughed so much she could hardly stand - yes, she did; I never saw anything like it.

I never before saw a painful story - a story of a person's troubles and worries and fears - make someone laugh like that. So I loved her even more, seeing she could be so cheerful when there wasn't anything to be cheerful about. I joked that I might soon need that kind of wife the way my future looked. I told her that of course, we should have to wait a couple of years, till I could pay off my debts with my salary. She joked back that she didn't mind that, only she hoped I would be as careful as possible with the money. I must try not to spend any of our third year's pay.