Updating March 2018: Did I really start this project eight years ago?! Whoops...

Lyrics from concept/London Endgame and Sydney The Deal.


though it gives me no joy adding to your satisfaction

De Courcey thinks himself kinder than Molokov. He treats Svetlana with a deliberate sympathy borne equally of guilt, promising Anatoly's return as if it were his to grant as once he took. This is more than mere chivalry; de Courcey wants an asset, not a liability, and he understands a desperate woman is the latter. In assuring her cooperation, he can soothe his lingering regrets from Merano. For a partner can be a victim no more, and a player has equal stakes in the outcome — but aware or not, the players in one game remain pawns in someone else's.

you have to forget anyone else's ambition