Merope sighed as she looked through the rather dusty book. This was no good. She could barely read the recipe since her reading lessons had ended when her mother had died, and she had few if any of the ingredients. Another problem was that she couldn't afford the ones she didn't have. She would have to be creative if she wanted Tom, creative in a way that had been discouraged since her mother had died. Her mother had been one of the few bright ones in the family. It was from her that she learned some aspects of human nature were universal.
Taking stock of everything she had, which admittedly wasn't much, a plan began to form. It was admittedly insane and a real long shot, but considering the fact that Muggles and Wizards alike were suckers for gambling... Fortunately for her plan which was based on the story about how her family had lost the last of their fortune which she had heard as a favorite bedtime story from her mother and as a rant against the Malfoys from her father, all she needed was alcohol (which she had in spades since her father and brother left), muggle money (her mother had squirreled some away for some strange reason) and a deck of cards (the deck her mother had used to play solitaire and her brother had used to teach her poker with before he turned mean was fortunately complete). All she needed was a reason for Tom to stop long enough for her to engage him in a "friendly" game.
As she tried to come up with a reason, she polished the locket her mother once wore until it shined as bright as the sun.
It was during breakfast that Thomas and Mary Riddle's son Thomas Jr., usually referred to as Tom to avoid confusion wandered in wearing nothing but a dingy bed sheet and smelling strongly of alcohol.
"What happened to you?" Thomas Sr. asked upon spotting his obviously drunk son who had swooped in to grab some toast before heading to his room to get dressed.
"I tried to win that locket off the Gaunt girl." Tom said, as he was heading towards the door.
"How did that end up with you wandering in wearing someones bed sheet?" Thomas Sr. asked.
"I lost five hundred pounds, thirteen acres off our property, my clothes, and we're getting married tomorrow. You can attend the wedding if you like." Tom replied rather casually before he left the breakfast room to get dressed.
"No-one is to hear about this. As far as everyone's concerned Tom is eloping with the Gaunt girl for reasons unknown. Rumors about the boy getting that girl pregnant would be far less embarrassing than stories of how he gambled himself as well as a sizable chunk of our property away." Thomas Sr. said when he finally processed his son's reply.
A year after moving with Merope to London on his father's orders, Tom stormed back into the manor carrying the bag he had left with.
"What are you doing back here and where's your wife?" Thomas Sr. asked.
"She cheated!" Tom roared.
"On you?" Mary asked.
"At cards." Tom said.