Lord de Worde opened his eyes, and looked at William.
'How dare you--'
'Shut up,' said William. 'Now, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. I'm not going to name names. That's my decision. I don't want my mother to have been married to a traitor, you see. Then there's Rupert. And my sisters. And me, too. I'm protecting the name. That's probably very wrong of me, and I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to disobey you one more time, in fact. I won't tell the truth. Not the whole truth. Besides, I am sure that those who want to know these things will find out soon enough. And I daresay they'll sort it out quietly. You know... just like you do,'
'Traitor?' whispered Lord de Worde.
'That is what people would say.'
Lord de Worde nodded, like a man caught in an unpleasant dream.
'I could not possibly take the money,' he said. 'I wish you joy of it, my son. Because... you are most certainly a de Worde. Good day to you.' He turned and walked away. After a few seconds the distant door creaked open and shut quietly.
William staggered to a pillar. He was shaking. He replayed the meeting in his head. His brain hadn't touched the ground the whole time.
'Are you okay, Villiam?' said Otto.
'I feel sick, but... yeah, I'm all right. Of all the bone-headed, stubborn, self-centred, arrogant--'
'But you make up for it in other vays,' said Otto.
'I meant my father.'
'Oh.'
'He's just so certain he's in the right all the time--'
'Sorry, this is still your father ve're talking about?'
'Are you saying I'm like him?'
'Oh, no. Qvite different. Absolutely qvite different. No similarities votsoever.'
'You didn't need to go that far!' He stopped. 'Did I say "thank you"?'
'No, you did not.'
'Oh, dear.'
'No, you noticed that you didn't, so zat is okay,' said Otto. 'Every day, in every vay, ve get better and better. By the vay, vould you mind pulling this sword out of me? Vot kind of idiot just sticks it in a vampire? All it does is mess up zer linen.'
'Let me help--' William gingerly withdrew the blade.
'Can I put zis shirt on my expenses?'
'Yes, I think so.'
'Good. And now it is all over and time for revards and medals,' said the vampire cheerfully, adjusting his jacket. 'So vhere are your troubles now?'
'Just starting,' said William. 'I think I'm going to be seeing the inside of the Watch House in less than an hour,'
In fact it was forty-three minutes later that William de Worde was Helping the Watch, as they say, with Their Inquiries.
On the other side of the table Commander Vimes was carefully re-reading the Times. He was, William knew, taking longer than necessary in order to make him nervous.
'I can help you with any long words you don't recognize,' he volunteered.
'It's very good,' said Vimes, ignoring this. 'But I need to know more. I need to know the names. I think you know the names. Where did they meet? Things like that. I need to know them,'