The Duchess

[jammi]

Maloney rather inexpertly tapped his own ashes out into the conveniently provided tray, accidentally spilling some onto the table surface. Four decades of service as a transport captain had familiarised him with rather smaller self-rolled dogends, which would be rapidly shared around crews between shifts. It was only relatively late in his career that he'd taken the step to management and thus affluence.

He did know his whisky though. He sniffed it, then tried a sip. "Lord above! That has a magnificent flavour. A rather superb after-taste, too," he added after a moment of reflection. "I must say you do me an honour by sharing such a valuable commodity." He could feel it heating up his chest now - it was a good feeling. Unfortunately, he'd have to double his pills tonight. After his heart attack, he was theoretically banned from drinking the stuff.

Even so, to refuse MacCutcheon Premium, well... That would have been heresy. For most men, sampling such whisky would have been a once in a lifetime opportunity. He took another sip from the little glass. "Y'know, another fine brand is that of the Wright family. They had an absolutely top-notch brewery, around 9 years ago. They even managed to settle a Royal Charter to supply the Crown's whisky."

He paused for a second and shook his head sadly. "Fortunatus Wright, I believe he was called. The owner of the company, that is - their 795 brew was truly excellent. Exceedingly rare now - the brewery itself was destroyed in a case of arson, if I'm not mistaken. Poor fellow lost his wife in the blaze. After the war with Kusari broke out, the place never got rebuilt. What a waste."

A morose silence appeared to sink over the old man, as he considered a number of other things that had given him pause for thought over the years. Men who'd died and the aspirations of others which had been blown away in the wind. He mulled it over for a moment, then decided the topic was a little grim. Sipping some more of the MacCutcheon Premium made him feel much better.

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