Like a victim of unprovoked Battery looking for witnesses, Jeffreys turned toward Apthorp, who raised his eyebrows and nodded. Now Jeffreys had been a London barrister for some years. Daniel suspected that he knew of these events only as a mysterious influence that caused his clients to go bankrupt. 'Some turmoil,' Jeffreys said, in a dramatic whisper. 'Rather dry language, isn't it? Imagine some planter's family in Jamaica, watching the work-force, and the harvest, dwindle – trying to stay one step ahead of bankruptcy, yellow fever, and slave rebellion – scanning the horizon for sails, praying for the ships that will be their salvation – some turmoil, you call it?'