“Oh, I doubt it has,” Rosamund replied with a smile, choosing her pawn and her opening strategy. Nothing to reinvent the wheel – or the game of chess, as it was – but she did have a few moves up her sleeve.

When it was her opponent’s turn, she lifted her gaze from the board to study him with much the same intentness.

“Do you get to play very much?” she asked next – half as a distraction technique, and half out of pure interest.

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