As Tristan carried the other two bottles back, the floor seemed annoyingly unsteady and the walls seemed to spin. He had definitely had more wine than his inexperienced system was used to. Drinking whiskey on top of that was a terrible idea. He knew that. He knew that! But it was all the more reason to do so anyway. In his already tipsy mind, it made him feel rebellious and he wanted to show off, like he was ten years younger and back at university.

He set the bottles down on the saloon table and dropped down into an armchair, but jumped up almost instantly. "Oh! Glasses!" Where were they? He could ask Pippa but he preferred to leave her alone for the rest of the evening. Oh right! "One moment!" He made his way over to the dining room once more, opened a cupboard, rummaged though, dropped a glass, which scattered on the floor, cursed, and finally returned to Douglas, holding up two low, wide glasses victoriously. "Found them!" As if finding something in his own home was a great accomplishment.

He handed Douglas one glass and sat down again. "Please help yourself. I don't want to be accused of getting you drunk, should we get arrested tonight," he joked.