December 6th, 1891 — Black's
The six of spades would have been a better choice; it would have won him the hand. Ford didn't realize this until after the round was over, but the card he'd played instead had obviously been the wrong choice. Even without seeing the other options in his hand, Cash could probably tell it was a stupid move. This wasn't the first time, either. They'd been playing for twenty minutes, and Ford had made at least three careless, stupid mistakes that had cost him a hand. It was a good thing they weren't playing for money.
Christmas was looming. Clementine would be back from school at the end of next week. Verity's wedding would take place in the new year. Macnair wanted to see him this weekend, if possible, or next week if not. Macnair's wife was presumably still pregnant — presumably getting more visibly pregnant by the day. Macnair still hadn't called things off, but spending time with him right now was akin to torture. Clementine would be asking for money to go shopping for gifts as soon as she was back from school, and he didn't have any to give her. He'd have to pretend he'd forgotten about it in the chaos of wedding planning, but even that would only buy him a few days to come up with something. Grace had not pestered him about it yet, because it wasn't in Grace's nature to pester, but Clementine would. Verity was getting married to someone who might be all wrong for her, but they didn't have options. Weddings were expensive, and Ford was sitting at Black's badly losing a game of cards with Cash Lestrange.
"Sorry," he mumbled, realizing he'd taken a beat too long to stare at his hand and he still hadn't decided which card to play. He picked one at random and threw it down. He took stock of what Lestrange had played and winced. Another losing hand.
Christmas was looming. Clementine would be back from school at the end of next week. Verity's wedding would take place in the new year. Macnair wanted to see him this weekend, if possible, or next week if not. Macnair's wife was presumably still pregnant — presumably getting more visibly pregnant by the day. Macnair still hadn't called things off, but spending time with him right now was akin to torture. Clementine would be asking for money to go shopping for gifts as soon as she was back from school, and he didn't have any to give her. He'd have to pretend he'd forgotten about it in the chaos of wedding planning, but even that would only buy him a few days to come up with something. Grace had not pestered him about it yet, because it wasn't in Grace's nature to pester, but Clementine would. Verity was getting married to someone who might be all wrong for her, but they didn't have options. Weddings were expensive, and Ford was sitting at Black's badly losing a game of cards with Cash Lestrange.
"Sorry," he mumbled, realizing he'd taken a beat too long to stare at his hand and he still hadn't decided which card to play. He picked one at random and threw it down. He took stock of what Lestrange had played and winced. Another losing hand.
Set by Lady!