Thom was on cloud nine, and had been for most of the day. The earlier luncheon at the Pendergast School had gone off rather well, and Hannah had been in good spirits for the entire event, at least that he had seen. Of course, Quaderash had been his true focus for the day, and even if his wife had begun to flag during the tournament he would have considered it a success if the game had been reasonably well received. It had been that, and more; the crowd had seemed interested, some sales had been made, and several of the top players from the day had been awarded free Quaderash sets, which would hopefully increase the game's popularity and help it spread. Best of all, though, Hannah herself had participated in one of the tournament matches, and in watching his wife two dozen feet above him atop a broomstick, Thom thought he had caught a glimpse for the first time in a long time of the enchanting young woman he'd fallen in love with.

The game having concluded, his first thought was to go and find Hannah to try and impress upon her how thrilled he was with her performance that day (both socially and on the Quaderash field), but he was finding himself detained by well-wisher after well-wisher, and of course he couldn't very well just turn them away at such a crucial promotional moment.

And then, suddenly, there was her. "Mrs. Black," he greeted, eyebrows raising in honest surprise. He hadn't realized she had been among the guests, nor would he have expected her to be. "Of course. Did you enjoy the game?"