Selected profile: classic single-card moves, empty fans left empty, two shuffled redeals and no final merci. The optional rescue draw belongs to a different rules profile.

← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →

Opening deal: 17 fans of 3 and one fan of 1; all 52 cards visible, 4 foundations empty and no stock.
Opening deal: 17 fans of 3 and one fan of 1; all 52 cards visible, 4 foundations empty and no stock.

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A patience with competing traditions

La Belle Lucie belongs to the fan family of patience games. Lady Cadogan included it in her nineteenth-century collection; the French name alone does not identify its inventor. Older manuals disagree about allowing a final rescue of a buried card. This guide chooses the stricter game without that rescue, so the shuffle counter and the exposed cards completely determine what is legal.

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Lay out every card

Shuffle 52 cards without jokers. Deal 17 face-up fans of 3 cards and a final fan of 1: 18 fans in total. Overlap each fan so all ranks remain visible; only its top, uncovered card is playable. Leave room for 4 initially empty foundations. There is no hand, stock, waste or reserve. Aces are low, followed by 2 through 10, J, Q, K.

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Move a single exposed card

An exposed ace starts a foundation. Build each foundation upward in its own suit to the king. Between fans, build downward in the same suit, one rank at a time. Thus 8♣ can go on 9♣, but never on 9♠. Move only a single exposed card, even when a whole sequence looks correctly ordered. Empty fans stay empty, including for kings. Foundation cards stay home; ranks never wrap around.

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Two reshuffles, no rescue draw

When no useful legal move remains, collect only the tableau cards, shuffle them and redeal face up in fans of 3; a remainder makes a shorter final fan. Leave foundations untouched. You may do this 2 times after the opening deal, giving 3 deals altogether. Do not restore cards already home. After the final deal there is no merci: a buried card cannot be extracted. A voluntary move that merely blocks another card is not progress.

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Uncover the card you need

Consider a local position: one fan, bottom to top, holds Q♦, 2♠, 8♣; another has exposed 9♣, while A♠ is already home. Move 8♣ onto 9♣. Now 2♠ is exposed and can follow A♠ onto its foundation. Q♦ becomes accessible. You could not have moved 2♠ before removing 8♣, nor moved both together. The diagram shows this position rather than pretending to be the opening deal.

← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →

First free the spade. Fan · bottom to top: Q♦, 2♠, 8♣. Destination: 9♣. Foundation: A♠. Top of the fan is 8♣. The buried 2♠ cannot yet move. Move the club by suit. Source: Q♦, 2♠. Built down: 9♣, 8♣. Foundation: A♠. 8♣ goes onto 9♣, uncovering 2♠. Move only the top card. Now build upward. Source: Q♦. Other fan: 9♣, 8♣. Foundation: A♠, 2♠. 2♠ follows A♠. Q♦ is exposed and may be played separately. Move 8♣ onto 9♣ to uncover 2♠, then move 2♠ onto A♠. These are two separate legal moves, not a sequence transfer.
Move 8♣ onto 9♣ to uncover 2♠, then move 2♠ onto A♠. These are two separate legal moves, not a sequence transfer.

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Winning and avoiding dead ends

Win by moving all 52 cards to the foundations. If you are stuck after both redeals, the patience has failed; partial foundations do not count as a win. Before covering a fan, inspect its buried cards: putting a higher card over a lower one of its own suit may lock both until the next shuffle. Empty space is not storage. A final rescue draw and kings in empty spaces are separate variants, never silent exceptions.

Common questions

Can a king fill an empty fan?+

No; empty fans remain unusable until a redeal.

Are ordered runs movable?+

No, only the exposed card moves.

Is the final rescue allowed?+

Not in this profile; agree that variant before dealing.