Both Lady Cora and Lord Mannis shook their heads.
Regina marveled at how they all addressed one another informally. The gentlemen were called only by their last names, with no honorific before it. The exception, of course, was Miss Eliza, who called Lord Mannis by his first name. That was her right, Regina supposed, since they were married in behavior and heart if not in the eyes of the law.
Still, she had never heard a married person call their spouse by their first name where others could hear.
And then the ladies were simply called by their first names. Not even a Miss before it, never mind the honorific ‘Lady.’ Regina called Miss Eliza as such because the woman had asked for it. Lady Cora had said no such thing, so Regina kept the honorific.
What bound these people together so thoroughly that they spoke as family, without barriers?
It wasn’t just the names, either. As the play continued, the group teased and complained and confessed to one another. It reminded Regina of her own sisters.
Except, these people got on better than Natalie and Elizabeth did.
The next part of the game was essentially Whist. After all the cards had been played, the pool was then divided evenly among all those who had made tricks. You had to make at least one trick. Otherwise you forfeited the money and earned none.
Being unable to play a single trick was called being “looed.” In the unlimited version that gamblers played, anyone who was looed had to forfeit to the others the amount of the entire pool.
This meant that if the pool was, say, equal to fifty pounds, the person who had been looed had to pay fifty pounds. The sum would then be divided evenly among the others.
It was easy for Regina to see how many men had lost their fortunes to this game. With the stakes increasing, there was no telling just how much money would go into the pool. And it was harder than it looked to play a trick, never mind win one.
Regina watched the others playing. She didn’t quite have the hand of the card game. Instead, she decided to focus on how each person played.
Perhaps it didn’t matter so much playing the cards well. After all, there was fair element of chance to it. She couldn’t control the cards.
But with a little bit of careful work, she could possibly control the players. Or at least know how they worked.
Regina studied the players.
First, there was Lord Mannis. He was a reckless player. He seemed to be reckless in everything. He was constantly making comments and trading barbs. He touched Miss Eliza and whispered in her ear.
He had little time left to live, Regina thought. Why should he be cautious when any day could be his last? The way to beat him, she thought, would be to draw out more of that recklessness. Get him to bet larger and larger sums, teasing him until he thought he had a chance.
The cards would turn against him eventually. All she would have to do to beat him would be to play him and keep herself in the game until the cards turned against him. Then she’d collect everything from him.
Miss Eliza was an erratic player. She would be overly cautious at one round and then play recklessly the next. She seemed to delight in confusing the others.
More than once Regina passed behind her to see what cards she had, only to see Miss Eliza pass up a better card in order to play a card that would not help her along but would confuse and frustrate another player.
She most delighted in bothering Lord Mannis. Her teasing only served to make him smile and kiss her cheek. It was far more affection than Regina had seen between any other couple. Save, perhaps, for Lord and Lady Morrison. But then the Morrisons were a little unconventional, just like these people.
It amazed her that someone could tease their lover in such a manner and get away with it. Miss Eliza was constantly bantering—there was no other word for it—with Lord Mannis. Yet he indulged it. He even delighted in it.
Regina had only ever seen women acting demurely towards their suitors. In the marriages she’d seen, there had been nothing but respect from the wife to the husband. At least, out in public. Whatever discord there might be was kept private.
This wasn’t discord. This was harmony, but light and teasing. Miss Eliza and Lord Mannis treated one another like equals.
It did give Regina some hope for Mr. Denny in regards to Elizabeth. If he truly cared about her and would meet her witticisms with the same good humor and love that Lord Mannis did for Miss Eliza, perhaps they would make a good match after all.
However, it also made Regina think upon Bridget’s words. Her sister had asked her to think of what she wanted in a suitor. For when the time came.
She wanted this, Regina realized. She wanted someone that she could banter with. She doubted that she would ever gain the confidence to banter with someone in such a fashion. Still, it was something to hope for, wasn’t it?
Regina realized she wasn’t thinking about the game. She focused back in.
Miss Eliza was an erratic player which meant she couldn’t be predicted. However, it also meant she wasn’t a threat. She was more interested in throwing people off their game than actually winning.
If Regina were to play her, all she would have to do would be to ignore her. Miss Eliza would fluster other players for Regina, but she wouldn’t win much. She wasn’t a true threat.
On the other hand, Lord Quentin was a methodical player. He had a way of doing things and he stuck to it. Admirable and logical, Regina thought. It also made him predictable.
He must have won the way he had because his method worked. Or perhaps he’d been more flexible before and was now less so because he was among friends. None of them were playing for real money, after all.
Still, Regina thought having a method put him in a corner. Once she figured out his plan, she’d know what he was going to do every hand. And once she knew that, she could depend upon it. She could play against it and piggyback off him to win.
Lady Cora was a more enigmatic player. Regina thought that fitting since she seemed an enigmatic woman.
The people at the table were all good friends. So much so, they acted more like family. Regina could see why, now: they were all, in their way, outcasts.
Lord Quentin was tolerated for now, but being born out of wedlock and his skin color would cast him out the moment his father died. His father’s protection afforded him a pretense of acceptance but it wasn’t real.
Miss Eliza and Lord Mannis had to make an unconventional decision because of Lord Mannis’s illness. That decision might be the most pragmatic one, but it also put a damper on their love. To have both, they had to exclude themselves from society.