Hurstwood hands a gun to Latimer and tells him, "You have seven shots, in all." However, Latimer fires the gun nine times - once into the fireplace and eight more times when he's alone in the room.
Sir Stephen tells Mr. Latimer that he never bets less than 1,000 pounds. Sir Stephen had just lost a horse race bet for less than that amount earlier in the day.
He was lying to Latimer. Since he was in debt for a £1,000 he needed to goad Latimer into betting that amount, so that he use that winning bet to pay off his other one.
He was lying to Latimer. Since he was in debt for a £1,000 he needed to goad Latimer into betting that amount, so that he use that winning bet to pay off his other one.