I shrug. “They have a good butler. Attentive chap.”

“Surely you could have bribed a chambermaid.”

“We would not dream of trusting anyone quite so common.” I ignore Swinburne’s wince. It is said his mother was a tanner’s daughter. There are words in his vocabulary that make the other teachers blush. “In any case, we will know more soon. The warrant was sent by special courier. The Crown is taking an interest, you see.”

At the mention of the Crown, Swinburne grows ponderous. Again it is almost comically easy to follow his train of thought.

What does fat Mr. Trout have to do with the Crown?

It nearly breaks his thick little head to puzzle it out.

“Headmaster Trout,” he ventures at last, almost shyly, “is it true that you used to be some sort of magistrate?”

“A justice of the peace.”

“A witchfinder, is what Master Barlow once told me, when he was in his cups. An inquisitor of crime.” He uses the words without reproach.

I laugh, pat my stomach. “Merely a servant of the state. I was more slender then.”

I think I have done enough to ensure that Swinburne will pass on whatever information his wooden skull can retain to his patron. He has long been the Tory Party’s ears within the school, just as Renfrew is the Liberals’. There is an interest, on the side of the Crown, in keeping the factions in balance.

“Now, if you will excuse me.”

“Of course, Headmaster.”

It is only now when he rises to leave that the thought occurs to Swinburne that he should have inquired about the victim of the assault, whatever his feelings about the man. It behoves him, as a Christian. Nonetheless, it comes out rather coarsely.

“Is Renfrew dead then?”

“Not at all. On the contrary, there is hope yet that he may live, though if he does he will be much changed. The surgeon had to remove several feet of his intestines. An Oxford man, he is, one of Renfrew’s party. I had him fetched.”

Swinburne frowns, wets his lips with the thick-veined tip of his tongue, lowers his voice to the whisper of insinuation.

“It’s unnatural. By rights he should be dead.”

“You are a suspicious man, Swinburne. We have no reason to believe that the man used any techniques or technologies he acquired illegally. And no reason to inquire. Surely you are pleased Dr. Renfrew is still with us.”