The Duke had seen Norma countless times. So he tended to use his private box more to socialize than anything resembling actually watching an opera. His and the count’s focus was entirely on the chess game before them and as they loudly discussed their strategy, the players appeared to be giving his box an evil eye. “I say,” the Duke said with joy. “The Philidor defence! Nothing to exciting in this defense aye Isouard,” the older man said to his playing partner with a chuckle.<br/><br/>“Oh, I think Mr. Morphy may have made an error of judgment,” the Count replied. “At the worst, we should be able to eke out a draw. But I suspect we can do better.” The count reached over and moved the Queen’s pawn to d6. “We’ll stick with the standard response at this point. I’m anxious to see if Mr. Morphy has any innovations planned for us.” As he spoke, some of the men in the common seats were beginning to notice the crowd of gentry that had gathered in and around the private box to witness the game. For some of the men in the common seats, it was a considerable investment to attend the opera and they weren’t exactly happy to have their evening’s entertainment interrupted.<br/><br/>The Duke and the Count took not notice of anyone else. They were in their own little world, enjoying the thought of showing this American chess upstart a thing or two. They had no idea they were about to become famous, but not for crushing Paul Morphy as they hoped.