The large glass chandelier above the mahogany dining table lit up the ordinarily dim dining hall, rendering the half dozen candelabras on the table pointless. At the head of the table in one of the many gold-edged, red velvet chairs sat Allipous wearing a button-up shirt that strained to contain his potbelly, and on his right sat Edith, wearing an emerald green dress with matching green lace sleeves and an excessively voluminous skirt. Kenni sat on Allipous's left and he had changed from his dingy traveling clothes to a white blouse with small ruffles on the chest. His warm-brown quiff-cut hair was slicked back and it looked as if it had taken a razor to touch up the sides since Evalynn had left him in his room.
"Here's to our guest," Allipous cheered merrily. "To Duke Kennington, Duke of
