"So you are telling me that some people call the game of Patience ", I said pausing for dramatic effect
"Solitaire?".
I was sitting in the Queens Head with Vivian, my employer and friend. She is also a witch. I'll get to that later.
We had a deck of cards in front of us, a roaring fire to the right and drinks to hand.
I stared at her in disbelief.
"But Solitaire is a completely different game from that of Patience."
Once again there was a nod.
"Why did we call this website Patience Online in that case?"
"You", corrected Vivian, "decided on this name for this website. I didn't. I wasn't concerned. It's just an experiment for our real sites."
"Moreover Patience is the proper name for this particular card game, and as you know by now names have power, so in fact whether or not by design you have named correctly."
Her voice was mesmeric, almost magical and the background noise of the pub faded as she was speaking and asking:
"Have I every told you about the game of Patience played with Cassandra?"
I sat back, relaxed ready for a good story and gossip. Stories about the Coven were always entertaining - and interactive.
"You do now how to play the game of Patience. Don't you?".
As I was making the obvious point, which was that having created Patience Online, I must at the very least understand the rules, Vivian placed the first card.
"It never hurts to have a refresher. Now you know about the Aces and Kings?"
Of course I knew. In the game of Patience, the four Aces are placed separately, normally above the other cards and to the right of the Stock and Waste piles.
The first card dealt was the Ace of hearts, followed by six cards dealt face down in a row.
Vivian then started the second row. The first card was again an Ace. The Ace of clubs.
I looked at Vivian suspiciously.
"Really?"
She continued to deal, setting out the traditional rows and columns used in Patience.
This version of Patience is one of the simplest to play, and as such is ideal for when you are in fact concentrating on something else.
And at this moment, we were concentrating on the hidden rules that can be learnt from playing card games, and observing other people play.