“No, they’re exactly the gang of brazen scofflaws I thought they’d be,” he returned with a straight face. “But everyone else. The villagers, for instance. Did you see yesterday, outside Keeton, I gave a man a shilling and he asked if I could break it into a dozen pence instead? That he could give out to his friends.” “I did see that.” She tilted her head back at him, every inch of her smug smile saying I told you so. “You want them to be greedy, don’t you? You want them to be mean and greedy and lazy, so you can say you were right.” “I do like being right,” he considered. “I am usually very
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