“I do,” Jason said, shaking his head with mock sadness. “But you can’t help where some lunatic cultist summons you to.”

“What?” Vincent asked.

“Would you please not provoke Thadwick Mercer?” Rufus asked.

“Or weirdly flirt with my mother,” Humphrey added.

“Humphrey, dear. Mr Remore,” Danielle said. “You have to remember that Jason wasn't born on top of the pile like you two. He has to make his own place in society, which is why he's playing around with poor Thadwick.”

“Then why humble yourself in front of him?” Humphrey asked Jason.

“Because then I’m the reasonable one,” Jason said.

“But he stormed off,” Humphrey said. “Doesn’t that make you seem below him?”

“It isn’t about what Thadwick thinks,” Jason said. “It’s about all these nice people here. The people who saw me seem perfectly reasonable in front of a member of the Mercer family, then wander over here to where I’m on a first name basis with Danielle Geller herself. Where does that put me, in their eyes?”

“Right at the top,” Rufus realised. “But why bother? You’re already appearing in high social circles.”

“As an adjunct to you,” Jason told him. “What all this is really for is the people who recognise what I’m doing and why.”

“Wait,” Humphrey said, “I thought it was about all the people here. You’re manipulating Thadwick, and all these people, for the benefit of the ones who see through it all anyway.”

“Now you’re getting it, dear,” Danielle said happily.

“I’m fairly certain I’m not,” Humphrey said.

“Dear boy,” she said to him. “The people who know what he’s doing recognise and respect his ability to do it. That's how you earn a place in the backrooms, not just the ballrooms.”

“I still don’t follow,” Humphrey said.

Danielle sighed.

“Sometimes I think you and your sister are a little too much your father’s children. Come along, everyone; I have a carriage waiting and dinner prepared. You will join us, won't you, Mr Trenslow?”

“It would be my honour, Lady Geller.”

61. Trade Hall

61

Trade Hall

Jason looked at the various suits of cloth armour draped over the balcony. He had taken three with him on the field assessment, and each had come back covered in rents and tears. Gary stood next to Jason, also looking them over.

“I’m going to need some new armour before I take any contracts,” Jason said.

“I told you that you needed something heavier,” Gary said.

The armour was all heavy fabric with a few reinforced sections. A combination of magical construction and alchemical treatment of the fabric made it tougher than it looked, but the effect was limited.

“I don’t want to lose the flexibility,” Jason said. “My powers are better suited to speed and mobility, healing up the occasional hit.”

“Then if you won’t increase the bulk,” Gary said, “you’ll need to increase the quality.”