Ledger of Intentions

Ernest discovered something deeply irritating over the following two weeks.

Ignoring a rumor did not make it disappear. It merely provided the public with sufficient time and creative license to optimize the narrative.

By Wednesday morning, the Helmarte Gazette confidently asserted that he and Lady Eleanor Valemont had been engaged in a clandestine courtship "for several continuous months."

Technically, the premise contained a grain of truth. They had encountered one another several times over the preceding four months. The social columnist had simply neglected to mention that virtually every single one of those encounters had involved estate audit ledgers, high-capacity track turnouts, worker housing density bylaws, or their respective mothers orchestrating intricate domestic traps to ensure they occupied the same physical room.