Alfred blinked at her. "You're not serious," he said flatly. It was initially a statement, not a question, because he didn't think she possibly could be serious. If this was really her plan, she would not have introduced it this way, he was sure. She would not have described it as simply not convenient.

Looking at her expression, though, he wasn't quite as sure. She didn't look like she'd been joking, and honestly, if it was a joke it was one that wasn't particularly funny. "I'm going to look like a pirate," he said with a forced chuckle, still rather hoping that she was trying to be funny and had just sorely misjudged the atmosphere in the room.