The look she gave her son said very plainly that she was not done and he had best remain quiet until she was. Though many things about motherhood had not come naturally to Roslyn, The Look certainly had.

“I was quite startled,” she continued, ignoring Idris’ question altogether, “to learn that she had let you boys go off on your own. I mean, really—good help truly is hard to find!”

She was getting off track. Roslyn cleared her throat.

“I was, frankly, floored, however, that you had chosen to take advantage of her foolish leniency. It is not behaviour I would have expected to see in a child I raised.”

She punctuated this with a small nod, indicating she had finished—for now.