It is, all things considered, a very nice drawing room. Portraits adorn the walls and the heavy drapes are open to let starlight from the moonless night through. There's a table far too small for the large room with a pot of tea, a set of tea cups and an arrangement of cookies and fruit. Two oaken doors are firmly closed to one side, and to the other a single door is slightly ajar, the sound of sobbing coming from past it. Every once in a while it's possible to hear a page being turned in the other room as well. The drawing room on its own is silent, save for the ticking of a grandfather clock and then, with no prelude, an exclamation.
"Then yeah, I would be more than happy to hire the guy an aquarium setup and maintenance consultant and pay for all his fish and coral if he could get me home, easy peasy."
"Unfortunately we can't just tell him this directly, given his distaste for commerce, but we can ensure that he hears rumors about Narnian fish tanks. I should consult my notes on gossip networks for what exactly would be the best way to do this."
"The initial version was based solely on my knowledge of people's relationships, but in order to improve on that, I sounded out people to discover when they heard particular pieces of gossip, and then used that, along with my knowledge of social calendars, to determine which people would find out gossip shortly after which other people.... I've also twice arranged to be on a balcony looking down at a party when someone was informed about a particularly interesting piece of new information, and catalogued exactly who talked to whom and for how long. And had Sophie report to me when she found out and from whom."
"Yes, we're rather close and she does appreciate my help with her social life, even if she detests most things about having a social life."
"Oh wow... should we be tabling discussion of how it works for when you are next backlashed?"
"I suspect I will have follow-ups, like I did with the clothing and electricity." She adds it to the list of deferred discussion topics, in the 'Haru's World' subsection.
"I believe this season the local paper has covered two, aside from myself, though it's still rather early. And probably a few of the previous years' vigilantes will show up as well..."
She can find her copy of the London Gazette - there are articles discussing the exploits of "Fishey Eyes", "The Burnt Dog", and "Ton o' Iron".
"- I believe that last one is a rather garbled account of our fight with Metcalfe."
In its version of the events, three scoundrels attacked an innocent, unnamed merchant's carriage. The driver of the carriage managed to evade the villains for long enough that Ton o' Iron - an acquaintance of the driver - was able to arrive from London proper. According to the letter Ton o' Iron is a hulking man with armor a foot thick and blows so strong that they shook the earth for miles around.