At that question, something in Puck's expression goes rigid. His fingers, curled over the pillow (as indeed all of him is more or less curled over the pillow), dig into it with the faint scriiiitch of ripping fabric.
"If by that," Puck mutters in a low, clipped, loathing tone, "you mean to ask whether some amount of his power may have curdled within me, I can assure you with relative certainty that if such were the case, and I were unaware of it, he or Mistress Rowlands should surely have made mention of the matter."
A pause.
"If, however, you mean to inquire as to blackmail ... you are more than passing clever, my own heart. You must know that the greatest power he has over me lies in you."
no subject
"If by that," Puck mutters in a low, clipped, loathing tone, "you mean to ask whether some amount of his power may have curdled within me, I can assure you with relative certainty that if such were the case, and I were unaware of it, he or Mistress Rowlands should surely have made mention of the matter."
A pause.
"If, however, you mean to inquire as to blackmail ... you are more than passing clever, my own heart. You must know that the greatest power he has over me lies in you."