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This Hand, and the story, come from this book. I'll put the story afterwards so you can skip it if you aren't interested. I also discovered that card games were tremendously popular in the Bastille, which was a sort of pleasant prison for the posh classes. It was too early a time for Whist though. Other tricks abounded I'm sure.
I have tried to reconstruct the hand as it appears in the Story with a LIN and PBN file
♥ are Trumps and the unfortunate storyteller (South) was gulled into betting UKP20 - see below. I think the "voice" of the story also explains the literary style of PG Wodehouse and quite a few subsequent, and some current, Bridge writers.
For those of you interested in History, here's the story.
The principal games played in England are Whist and Cribbage; the former by the higher and upper middle class, the latter, generally, by those of lower station. Whist is too tedious a game for the professional gambler; it is peculiarly a game of skill, and thoroughly unsuited for cheating purposes. A person, it is true, may, by making the pass, manage to hold one good honour each time he deals, but this advantage is not equivalent to the risk of detection; the play, as a Frenchman would say, is not worth the candle and this a silly old nobleman, a few years since discovered in a most lamentable manner. Gamblers are consequently thrown upon their ingenuity to devise a speedy means of winning at whist, a game, be it remembered, which by its very nature seems to disarm suspicion, and a very clever coup is executed in the following manner. The writer, indeed, may as well relate a circumstance that fell under his own notice, speaking of himself as Simple, his antagonist as Sharp. Some thirty years ago, Simple and a friend were passing a few days holiday at a well-known watering-place on the South coast, when a sudden shower of rain drove them to take shelter in an adjoining tavern, where they were joined by two strangers, namely, Sharp and Co. The weather, as a confounded bore, being at once alluded to, a conversation commenced; and the important question was started, how to pleasantly spend the wet evening. Sharp proposed a game of whist, but his friend said cards were not kept in the house. However, the bell was rung, a pack of cards ordered and brought in by the waiter; and then Sharp's friend objected to play for money, it was contrary to his principles, besides it spoiled the pleasure and interest of the game; and so they commenced to play a rubber for glasses of something to drink and cigars, Simple and friend, of course, being partners against Sharp and his companion. Nothing particular occurred, till the adversaries were a game each, when it became Sharp's turn to deal, which he did, apparently, in the usual manner, turning up the deuce of hearts as trump. Simply taking up his hand, with all the eagerness of a very young man, found, to his agreeable surprise, that he held the ace, king, queen, knave, nine, and ten of trumps; the ace, king, queen, and knave of clubs; and the ace, king, and queen of spades. The dealer, who had not looked at his cards, being engaged in taking snuff and pleasantly handing the box round, now rubbing his hands, laughingly proposed a bet on the odd trick. "I have looked at my cards, "was the reply, " and you have not lifted yours yet.". "O never mind that," retorted the other; "I am in the humour for a little speculation, and if you like to bet on the odd trick, I will take you for a couple of sovereigns." Simple had already telegraphed, with the tail of his eye, to his friend the excellence of his hand. It was not in human nature to resist such an offer, but then Sharp's companion insinuated something about two sovereigns being too much for the young men to lose, it would spoil their holiday; and the result of this and other chaff was, that a bet on the winning of the odd trick was made for twenty pounds; and at this moment the landlord happening to come into the room, the money, on the proposition of Sharp, was deposited in his hands. We have seen Simple's cards, let us have a look at those held by Sharp; which were the eight, seven, six, five, four, three, and deuce of trumps; the ace, king, queen, knave, ten, and nine of diamonds. How the twenty-six cards, comprising the rest of the pack, were distributed in the hands of the other two players, it matters not; the hands of Simple and Sharp were alone the seat of war. Simple, confident of winning at least twelve tricks, led off with his trumps, and of course, won the first six tricks; he then boldly led off his ace of spades, which fell to Sharp's last paltry deuce of trumps; and then Sharp, bringing in his diamonds, inevitably won the last seven tricks. The landlord, who stayed in the room to see the hand played, at once passed the money over to Sharp; who, then, suddenly recollecting an important engagement, departed with his accomplice, leaving Simple and his friend in a state more easily imagined than described. Their holiday was truly spoiled. At first they could scarcely believe they had been cheated, imagining that Simple had played his hand badly. But, on their return to town, going over the game in the quiet solitude of their chambers, they found it impossible for them, under any circumstances, to have gained the odd trick. For, if Simple had adopted the less obvious plan of forcing the dealer, by playing spade or club, the latter would have trumped the trick and forced the leader, in turn by playing diamond. Of course, Mr. Sharp knew better than to return trump, for then his number of trumps being reduced to six, the same as that held by Simple, the latter would then take out all the trumps, and win all the remaining tricks. And from this point of view the cheating stratagem affords a good whist lesson; fully exemplifying the value and importance of the last trump, however insignificant, to bring in a long suit, and the peculiar action of what is not inaptly termed forcing.
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