"I do not think I can give much advice in that regard, I'm afraid," Oliver responded carefully, feeling very much like he was in a fencing match. "I do not intend to do anything worthy of rumour, it simply happens."
"Oh, indeed?" The man said, his eyebrow twitching ever so slightly. "Then, perhaps, the key to a good bit of impulsive surprise is not to think about it?"
"But now you are already thinking about it, Willem, and you've got us trapped down a route of conversation better avoided," Lord Blackwell said.
Willem laughed aloud at that, "Quite true," he said. "Do forgive me, gentlemen. I am sure you're here on business."
"Now you've already met one of my officers. Colonel Willem. He commands a thousand men," Blackwell said. "Remember his face, as you ought to remember the other faces that you meet. You never know when you might be fighting alongside each other."
