Voluptua was still under the misapprehension that Randy’s former ardour towards her had cooled. Actually the reverse was true and Randy’s intentions toward her were not what in former times would have been called honourable. But the poor fellow still thought he had to win her back by becoming a brilliant bridge player. A chance came when, with Frieda and Gordon departing for a romantic weekend a deux, the young folk were left to play together in the Graded Pairs tournament.
Evidently some pre-tournament discussion was needed and the subject of carding signals came up. “How will I know that you are encouraging me, Voluptua?” asked Randy. He bit his tongue too late as this question came out but Voluptua was amused by his discomfort. “I’ll show you my honours” she giggled. Randy was too embarrassed to take the subject further and they turned up for the first tournament together with no agreement at all on discards and signals.
On the first board Randy (West) led the ♣K against the opponent’s 4♥ contract. Voluptua felt that it would be right to encourage the young man but didn’t know which of her honours to play. Eventually she parted with the ♣Q and the spotlight now passed to Randy. “Surely” he thought “Voluptua would only waste the ♣Q if it was a singleton so, hoping for a ruff, he led a low club. He was somewhat surprised when Voluptua produced the ♣J but her return of the ♦Q led to to a one trick defeat of the contract. Since most other defenders had begun with both ♣A and ♣K, after which the contract could not be defeated, Randy and Voluptua got a near top. The whole deal had been
| ♠AK32 ♥85 ♦876 ♣T985 | ||
| ♠854 ♥43 ♦A32 ♣AK432 | ♠976 ♥T92 ♦QJT54 ♣QJ | |
| ♠QJT ♥AKQJ76 ♦K9 ♣76 |
Unawares, the two had conducted a defence that would have been found only by an expert pair. Playing the Queen on the lead of the Ace promises the Jack. Partner can then safely underlead their King if he feels that the next lead should come from the other hand. In such a situation an expert West would lead their lowest club to suggest a return of the lower ranking of the remaining suits.
Bridge Romances 
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