I forgot to mention - I tossed the Gentleman's Group Objective card. Halfway through the game and I'm still at 0 for 3. Almost no chance of hitting it, now.
Round 1, Season 3
Miss Caroline West came to Derbyshire to sell some of her trade goods at the Midsummer Fair, and since she was already in the area, decided to come to the Ponsonby Manor in the evenings for pleasant, leisurely games of whist with Countess Mabel.
With the money from the fair and the Countess's whist winnings off Miss West, the family had enough funds to add a Long Gallery filled with some of the best local art.
Round 2, Season 3
It'd become a Ponsonby habit to immediately take advantage of their new estate developments upon completion of construction, and the same was true late that summer.
Earl Theodore and Viscount Edward personally gave a tour of the initial collection to Elizabeth Fairchild and Sir Thomas Ralphs. Miss Fairchild, who highly preferred music, nonetheless entertained the gathering with witty remarks about being the only woman in a group of men. Though some local rumor started about there being something going on between her and Sir Thomas, who was delighted to once again be in her company, nothing could be further from the truth.
For you see, Miss Elizabeth had already dismissed him as a viable suitor during the bowls game the season before. A charming young man to be sure, but under no circumstances one she could ever take seriously as a potential match. The steady, calm Edward, on the other hand, became more and more attractive with each passing minute.
Poor Sir Thomas was clueless to the subtle undercurrent passing between the other two young people, eagerly nattering away and fancying his chances with Miss Elizabeth like an overeager puppy who knows nothing of life's harsh cruelties.
Though the coffers were meager, certain low-level upgrades became dirt cheap that season. Thus, a Croquet Lawn was added for a mere 100 pounds.
Round 3, Season 3
Odd as it sounds, the sickly, obese Dowager Countess Rebecca of Clare absolutely loved the game of croquet. And when she heard of a new lawn installed on the Ponsonby grounds, she eagerly sent off a missive, requesting to come and play.
As she would later explain, "It's the one sport someone like me can play and have a chance at winning."
The Ponsonbys were ecstatic to receive such a powerfully important guest and saw a perfect opponent in Richard Brannaugh's return. The knighted baronet was only too happy to accept - on condition that he and his man could sleep in the Heritage Guest Suite again. "Best sleep in the whole damn country," Sir Richard wrote.
This, request, too was acceded to, and after Sir Richard misplayed his last shot in a tight game - thereby allowing the portly Rebecca to win on her next play - the county chatted for weeks about how one of England's finest horsemen was bested at sport by a large, unwell woman.
Of course, the more shrewd silently saw what really happened - Sir Richard did his hosts a great favor by allowing their far more important guest a victory and doing it in such a way that it seemed happenstance rather than deliberate to most observers.
Still, everyone was quite happy - the Ponsonbys enjoyed great esteem, the Dowager Countess Rebecca talked for the rest of her days about the day she beat Sir Richard at croquet, and Sir Richard got to sleep in his favorite room. (the Dowager Countess, of course, was accorded the Lionheart Suite).
The only ones who weren't happy? The two ladies' maids who had to give personal attendance to the Countess Clare. As the two junior maids hired together the season before, such duties doubtless befell them due to their lack of seniority. But that made the experience no less unpleasant - especially since one did not care for sports at all, and the other had a brother who suffered brain damage as a result of being hit by a too fiercely struck ball.
All of this aside, the emphasis on outdoor activities that season continued with Riding Stables installed on the opposite side of the vast lawn. The family would have liked to add even more, as it was the high point of the building season, but they lacked money to do so.
Game Mechanics
Builders Holiday and I can only afford one thing. Feels bad, man. Feels freaking horrible, actually. Oh well.
In the feels good, man category: I discarded the Gentleman's Group at the start of this season. The Billiards room came up earlier, and this turn, the AI ate it. Yay, smart choices me!
Round 4, Season 3
It was an extended summer that year, and so the Ponsonbys continued to enjoy the outdoors. As had become tradition, they took the horses out of their new stables one glorious afternoon for a ride. In their company were the striking Lady Alessandra Suffolk, daughter of the Marquess, and that puffed up popinjay Thomas Handle, who spent the whole time talking about how the roads in London were so much better than the country ones of Derbyshire.
Nearly everyone considered drowning Handle in a nearby bog, but resisted the temptation - barely.
The money acquired in this time period paid for the construction of a dining room in the north wing of the manor, plans made for the hosting of a formal dinner before the year was out.
The young are known for their fickleness, as Viscountess Caroline Abernathy would say. And yet, Elizabeth Fairchild showed herself to be the exception - her newly discovered love of sports the season before proved an all-consuming, permanent passion.
Game Mechanics
I went in heavy on the Sporting this season because, as the game documentation notes, it's a smart play to focus on building up the already revealed courtship focuses.
And it paid off beautifully - once again, we barely outscored the Hanovers 7-5. That last turn flip of the Riding Stables took us from 4 to 7 (-1 initially as you can see above, +2 on the flip).
We're at 6.5, so already the Ponsonbys are guaranteed to hit max Reputation before game's end and will surpass the Yorks in that category. We're at 4 VP cards to the AI's 0, too.
I belatedly realize at this point I only drew one Objective card way back when I was supposed to draw 2. No problem because it's solo play, but I need to remind myself next time.
It's the Epicurean Group - Breakfast Room and North Dining Room - worth 9 VP. Luckily, I just bought the North Dining Room, so I only need the Breakfast Room to come up in this season and get it.
The toss is easy - Service for 1 VP. Though we're currently at 0 pounds, I see a path to 1,200 by game end, and Sporting will continue to get our attention. It's now doubly important and that's the money-generating category of estate improvements.