concept
Caprice des dames
the lady's caprice
also: каприз де дам
A popular nineteenth-century patience (solitaire) card game, played here by the general at the story's opening as a marker of his idle domestic routine.
Reading notes
- The Guardian §1 the lady's caprice
"Caprice des dames" (French), a popular nineteenth-century patience/solitaire card game -- a fittingly idle pastime for a general interrupted mid-game by an unwelcome suitor.