Chapter 144 - Meet the League of Extraordinary—
Scarlett stared at Dean Godwin. She hadn’t quite been prepared to run into the man this suddenly.
Lord Withersworth cleared his throat. “Ahem. Dear, what brings you here?” he asked, glancing at his wife and son before shifting his gaze to Scarlett. “I see that you have replaced our daughter with Baroness Hartford. You certainly work fast.”
Lady Withersworth let out a short scoff. “You and your dramatics. Do not think that I don’t see what you were trying to do here. I am sure you were hoping we would forget about you and let you waste the evening away drinking with your ‘friends’.” She reached out and took the glass her husband was holding, handing it over to one of the other gentlemen, who received it with a wry smile. “I swear, sometimes it’s as if you want me to nag you. It was only last week that the healer advised you to drink less, yet here I find you doing the exact opposite.”
“Dagnabbit woman, one glass won’t kill me.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be quite so sure about that. But even if it does not, I very well might.”
The other men gave hearty laughs at that.
The woman’s head snapped towards them. “Do not act as if you lot aren’t complicit. If I find myself having to bury my fool of a husband prematurely, then I will track down each one of you and ensure you join him. Is that understood?”
“Crystal clear,” the man with one glass in each hand replied. He seemed to be the youngest of the group, even with dark hair streaked with grey and a thick mustache on his lip. “I’ll have my butler charter a ship to Zovivios soonest possible. I hear they have remarkable beaches.”
“You better not have Valda join you on that trip. She knows to prioritise between her husband and her long-time friend.”
The man blinked, then turned to his left. “Godwin, you wouldn’t happen to have room for one more next time you disappear on one of those escapades of yours, would you?”
The dean of Elystead Tower raised two gloved hands in the air, wearing a dignified smile. “I am afraid that I know better than to try to run from the inevitable, Fitzroy. I suggest you surrender to your fate.”
A cough sounded out from Lord Withersworth. “Yes, well, I am sure everyone but my wife here would be overjoyed to see my untimely demise, but if we could perhaps turn our attention to something else.” He glanced at Scarlett before eyeing his wife and son for a moment. “Where did Lorena go to? And is there a particular reason you had to come looking for me? I will have you know this was the first and last glass I was having tonight.”