“You won most of those matches when you didn’t have anything at all in your hand,” commented Aunt Philomela.

“There is little skill in winning when you hold a Royal Straight Flush.”

“I held four aces and even then you won.”

“Because you didn’t have the courage of your convictions,” explained Barnes. “I had only a pair of deuces that time.”

Aunt Philomela’s eyes snapped dangerously.

“Then,” she asserted, “I consider your gains decidedly ill gotten.”

“If you had only called me.”

“After you shoved forward a whole handful of matches as though you held all the cards in the pack?”

“That is the game. All is fair in love and—”

“Love!” snapped Aunt Philomela in disgust.