Authors Note: I don't play cards… so! If you do and this is completely and totally off, or terribly stiff please let me know! I am so sorry to all you Rummy players out there, if I am butchering your beloved game.

This chapter is a short one!

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"Rummy?" He laughed at her expression, "I'll teach you, don't worry."

Mary cleared off the tea set as Robert grabbed a card table from behind the couch and set it up between the two wooden chairs. Mary turned the tap on and waited for a moment before the water spurted out, then she began to wash the pot as well as Robert's cup.

"You don't need to do that Mary."

Mary shrugged, "I don't mind," and she didn't, cleaning for Robert was different that finishing her chores for Constance. She continued to wash out the pot as Robert went to stoke the fire. The small apartment was heating up considerably and Mary's hair was almost dry. She wondered what time it was and she looked at the clock that hung on the wall over the small ice box. It was nearly a quarter past six; Mary hadn't realized so much time had passed. Right now her Ladyship would settle down for her meal, with meat and vegetables and a cream soup. Though the servant's dinners were far less elaborate than her Ladyships the hired help was still fed well. Mary set the tea pot onto the counter to dry, and then she quickly rinsed the cup before grabbing the bag of biscuits. She shoved two into her mouth in a very unladylike fashion and walked into the living room.

Robert was already seated in a chair; he held the deck of cards in his hands and smiled at Mary. He looked so eager and it was then that Mary realized that Robert probably did not have anyone to keep him company. Mary knew he preferred his solitude, but he must have been lonely, working nearly all day only to come home to an empty apartment with its sagging couch, leaking tap and pair of shaggy charcoal coloured curtains.

"You ready then?" Mary asked, giving Robert a smile of her own. She settled into the chair opposite to him and he began to deal the cards. He counted ten for each of them then he began to sort his hand, depending on suit and number. Mary looked at her cards, she was a novice for sure, but once her older brother William had explained her what each card meant, and the order from lowest to highest (depending on the game of course).

"Kings are top," Robert muttered, as Mary began gathering all her red cards together. "Now," he said looking up from his hand. "All the face cards, the Jack and the Queen and King they're all worth ten points, the Ace is worth one and the numbers are all worth their own." Robert put the pile of left over cards in the center of the card table and then he flipped one over. "You put all the cards you don't want here—you can choose from either pile."

"How do I know I don't want them?"

"You want to make a sequence, a set of cards all the same suit in order of their value." Robert looked through his hand, "like this," he set out three cards, "if these were all spades then I would have a set." He tucked the three cards into the bottom of the pile of the cards and drew three more. "You can do that or get three of the same number."

Mary went over what he told her, trying to remember all the things that he said.

"You can only use one card for one set," he looked at her, as if seizing her up, "no cheating."

"I don't need to cheat," Mary retorted, "I can beat you just fine on fair terms." Mary was surprised she had actually said that last bit out loud, but she was glad when she heard Robert laugh.

"You pick first," Robert said. "Do you want the card that's turned up? If not for the first round I can take it" Mary made her choice and took the card that Robert had turned up. She looked down at her two of hearts. She had another heart but it was a Jack. "Now, decide which of your cards you don't want and put it down."

How was Mary supposed to know which card she wanted to give away? Suppose she put it down and then decided later than in fact she needed that card? Oh well, she thought and she tossed down her six of spades, that's the price of playing by chance I guess. She reminded herself that she could pick from either pile, so perhaps if she was lucky when she needed it the card she had thrown away would still be waiting for her.

"Now," Robert continued on, "when we have both picked a card and you want to end the play either of us will need to knock…"

Mary tried her best to focus on everything that Robert said, she prided herself on being a quick learner, but there was so information that went with this card game. There was something about deadwood and going gin, these words were alien to her and she longed to grasp the concept of them. When Robert started to explain about how to keep score that was when Mary became truly lost. Robert told her that for the first few rounds he would keep score. Mary wondered how long Robert intended on keeping this up.

Mary munched on a biscuit as Robert mused over his cards; they were nearly drawing to the end of their third play. It had taken almost two hours for Mary to feel comfortable enough to start playing without Robert's help. The pile was nearly out and much to Mary's excitement, all she needed was a seven of clubs and she would have enough sets to go gin.

Mary watched as Robert placed down his card, and she was about to reach down to grab one from the pile when she noticed just what card Robert had put down. The seven of clubs lay on the pile before her, Mary snatched it, brushing her hand across the pile in the process, before Robert had a chance to say anything Mary slammed her fist down onto the table and shouted:

"Gin!"

"What?" Robert said, gathering the spilled cards into a neat pile.

Mary lay her cards down on the table, satisfied that she had matched all her cards. She wasn't sure at all if this was what she was supposed to do, but her hands were shaking. "That's…" Mary tried to remember what the score was for going gin.

"Twenty points, including, six for my unmatched cards."

Mary was sure this was no great step on her path towards a professional career in Gin Rummy, but the fact that she remembered to knock and didn't curse when she saw a set she hadn't seen before she lay down her cards was definite progress.

Robert counted her points and they continued to play into evening.

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Thanks so much for your reviews!

This one was rather short was it... ah well, the next chapter shall be much longer!