Mary reached out to take the wine glass, her hands trembling slightly. "Thank you... thank you, Mr. Hastings."
Great Dumas couldn't stand it any longer and chimed in gruffly, "Mary, don't be afraid. If this bunch of literary scoundrels dares to bully you, they'll be waiting to eat a few bullets from us!"
"By the way," Eld suddenly interjected, "Arthur actually did eat some, but he was lucky and lived later."
Mary was stunned for a moment and didn't react until Great Dumas burst into a laugh. Then she realized Eld was joking.
Not used to letting things fall silent, she laughed along, but as soon as the laughter burst out, she realized that laughing at this moment seemed disrespectful to the honorable Mr. Hastings, and she immediately stopped.
