'And he's not going to be pardoned?' said William.
Lord Downey turned to Mr Slant, who gave a little sigh.
'Again, my lord, it is--'
'All right, all right... No, he's not going to be pardoned because it is quite clear that he is quite guiltless,' said Downey testily.
'Would you say that this has become clear because of the excellent work done by Commander Vimes and his dedicated band of officers, aided in a small way by the Times!' said William.
Lord Downey looked blank. 'Would I say that?' he said.
'I think you possibly would, yes, my lord,' said Slant, sinking further in gloom.
'Oh. Then I would,' said Downey. 'Yes.' He craned his neck to see what William was writing down. Out of the corner of his eye
William saw Vimes's expression; it was a strange mixture of amusement and anger.
'And would you say, as spokesman for the Guild Council, that you are commending Commander Vimes?' said William.
'Now see here--' Vimes began.
'I suppose we would, yes.'
'I expect there's a Watch Medal or a commendation in the offing?'
'Now look--' Vimes said.
'Yes, very probably. Very probably,' said Lord Downey, now thoroughly buffeted by the winds of change.
William painstakingly wrote this down, too, and closed his notebook. This caused a general air of relief among the others.
'Thank you very much, my lord, and ladies and gentlemen,' he said cheerfully. 'Oh, Mister Vimes... do you and I have anything to discuss?'
'Not right at this moment,' growled Vimes.
'Oh, that's good. Well, I must go and get this written up, so thank you once--'
'You will of course show this... article to us before you put it in the paper,' said Lord Downey, rallying a little.
William wore his haughtiness like an overcoat. 'Um, no, I don't think I will, my lord. It's my paper, you see.'
'Can he--?'
'Yes, my lord, he can,' said Mr Slant. 'I'm afraid he can. The right to free speech is a fine old Ankh-Morpork tradition.'
'Good heavens, is it?'
'Yes, my lord.'
'How did that one survive?'
'I couldn't say, my lord,' said Slant. 'But Mr de Worde,' he added, staring at William, 'is, I believe, a young man who would not go out of his way to upset the smooth running of the city.'
William smiled at him politely, nodded to the rest of the company and walked back across the courtyard and out into the street. He waited until he was some distance away before he burst out laughing.
A week went past. It was notable because of the things that didn 't happen. There was no protest from Mr Carney or the Engravers' Guild. William wondered if he had been carefully moved into the 'to be left alone' file. After all, people might be thinking, Vetinari probably owed the Times a favour, and no one would want to be that favour, would they? There was no visit from the Watch, either. There had been rather more street cleaners around than usual, but after William sent a hundred dollars to Harry King, plus a bouquet for Mrs King, Gleam Street was no longer gleaming. ;And this is... ?' said Lord de Worde.
There's more than twenty thousand dollars in there, as close as a couple of experts could estimate,' said William. 'I didn't have a lot of time to work it out and I didn't want you to think I was being unfair, so I've erred on the generous side. That must cover everything I've cost you over the years. School fees, clothes, everything. I have to confess you didn't make such a good job of it, given that I'm the end result. I'm buying myself off you, you see.'