The Queen of Spades by Aleksandr Pushkin

On a winter night in Moscow, a game of faro is being played into the early hours.
An army officer, by the name of Hermann watches the high stake gambling.

Hermann meets Lizaveta, a ward of the elderly Countess Fedotovna. Years ago the countess learned the secret of winning at Faro from the mysterious Count of St. Germain. He becomes obsessed with learning the secret.

Lizaveta and Hermann arrange to meet at the countess’s house one night. When he arrives he goes instead to the room of the countess and pleads to be given the secret to winning at cards. The countess refuses to tell him the secret and he then threatens her with a pistol; which causes her to die of fright!

At the Countess’s funeral, Hermann is aghast when the dead Countess appears to wink mockingly at him. That night her ghost visits his room and tells him she has been ordered to divulge the secret sequence of cards, which are three, seven, and ace.

The next evening, Hermann goes to the gambler Chekalinsky’s house and bets all the money his father had left him on three. He wins, and comes back the next night to double his winnings on seven. The third night, however, Hermann is shattered to discover that he mistakenly bet on his queen of spades rather than his ace. The queen appears to wink at him, just as the Countess’s did.

It seemed appropriate to pop in one of our poker sets to show you, after this story!

The opponent on your right opened 1Heart.

What do you bid, if anything?

Beautiful silver gilt edged playing cards – a delight to play with.

Answer: Double

Tell partner you have a shortage in Hearts, an opening hand and ask them to choose the suit.

You might have a Spade fit.

“The advice shouldn’t be to act your age. It should be to act your spirit.

Your age may try to prohibit you from dancing like that, or starting over, or trying something new.

But your spirit would never do such a thing. If something feels aligned, your spirit wants you to go for it, whether you’re 15 or 85.

Acting your age makes you fit in more, while acting your spirit will indeed cause you to stand out—in a bad way to people who act their age, but in an inspiring way to those who act their spirit.

Try acting your spirit from time to time, and you can see for yourself which path makes you feel more alive.” (Light Watkins)

This location, surprisingly, is not the Bahamas – it is the Botanicals Bar on Arran!

Have a good week – Amanda xxx