"Ah, very well," Étienne sighed. "As long as it is understood that I am not being driven from here by what some perceive as its discomforts and inconveniences—" and here he paused for a moment to glare at several Gentlemen of the Bedchamber and other members of his household, who were fortunate enough to be hidden in darkness "—but, as it were, fleeing in terror of the prospect that my conduct is, in the eyes of my mother, other than perfect."