"The hand you were dealt, you mean," he corrected her gently. When he'd started to speak he had only meant to address her slip of the tongue regarding their metaphor. There was no degree of choice in which cards she'd picked up, and the way she'd phrased it let lie that she wasn't talking about the cards at all, which could be dangerous if anyone were to overhear them. As he'd said it, though, he realized the dual meaning it might carry, which was that he was absolving her of any agency in this current situation. He wasn't sure he was ready to do that, but he couldn't unsay it, and he would have no control over how she interpreted his remark.

But trying to pretend it was entirely her fault, when he knew so much about her situation and her loveless marriage, seemed too cold even given the contents of her last letter, and the terms on which they'd parted. To that end, Thom added, "A game such as this one has an element of luck as well as one of skill, don't you think?"

Thom turned his attention to his hand, and added almost carelessly, "And your losing hand at this table may have a different outcome with another partner. Our portion of this match may seem long while we sit here, but in fact I think it will be quite the opposite in the scope of the entire game."