"Well," Thom said coolly, ignoring the strain he could hear in her voice. "It seems unlikely that either of us will finish the game at this table, particularly if your hand is as dismal as you say."

He wasn't sure exactly what she was implying with her last comment, but he didn't want to give her any false hope of rekindling things here, if that was her intention. Thom didn't think that it was, but — well, he knew Ursula, and he knew that she could make questionable decisions in the heat of the moment. If her illness and the letter had left her feeling vulnerable, and then he said something that vaguely implied he was open to a continuation — she might get the wrong idea, to say the least. Better to close that avenue off entirely than to leave it ambiguous through the use of metaphor.