"Just as well." Gerairn fretted. He was fretting a lot, and fretting all the more because he really wasn’t sure why. "I have to leave you for a while, I’m afraid. I promised to take breakfast with some ghastly little secretary at the consulate, It’s necessary if we’re to have backup for our enquiries at the Doge’s offices. It will look odd if they check and find I haven’t actually been in touch with the consulate. Plus I really should get some hints on who to avoid among the paper-pushers."