The ladies of her church group were, Temperance feared, not quite as devoted to the Lord as she might have hoped them to be. They said all the right words of course, and she would never be seen in public with them if they were not the most respectable sort of attendees, but she could not help but question why they thought it necessary to meet in an establishment that was quite so frivolously decorated. The wallpaper was acceptable enough and even Temperance could find little fault with floral arrangements – these were a little garish perhaps, but flowers were one of God’s finest creations in her estimation – but the candlesticks were almost popish and the curtains looked machine sewn.

And that was not to mention the appalling availability of alcohol in the middle of the day. Temperance sniffed as she sipped her tea, her back deliberately to the bar, and glanced towards the clock by the door to confirm to herself that she was a solid twenty minutes early and had ample time to prepare herself for contradicting whatever waffle Mrs Goodacre was about to unleash about unnecessary fetes.

She had built up a fairly satisfying refrain, in which she planned to quote Revelations for good measure, when the table before scraped against the tiles underneath with an unpleasant screech and set Temperance reeling backwards and to her feet. She held the cup steady in her hand and just about avoided the saucer hitting her foot as it shot over the edge; it shattered on the ground – good riddance, Temperance thought, eyeing what remained of a pattern that looked Moorish – and she lifted her severe gaze to the wild man who had interrupted her quiet musings, glowering silently.

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Wonderful set by Lady <3