Quoted By:
Realization suddenly breaks over you like an angry, red dawn. If Leopoldine is going to make trouble for you, then why not just choose another name? After all, you never told the goodman that your father is named Leopold. If you were to choose <span class="mu-i">any</span> other name that has a male and female variant, then you could net the same benefit of being Leopoldine, daughter of Leopold without the association with the Starlight Shrike that might possibly be an issue with an Inquisitor - if, Firmament forbid, you ever had to talk to another again. You rack your brain for a second or so to think up another name, before ultimately settling on Wilhelm and Wilhelmina. A decent, wealthy sounding name - and the one historical Wilhelm that you know about was so long ago that you cannot imagine anyone would consider it presumptuous for Subjects to take up the given name as well. Now all that is left is to sell this to the goodman ... which if the Cobbler was anything to go by, might be rather difficult to pull off. Though you might have an idea ...
"...Well, I was thinking - if it wouldn't be much of an imposition, would it be possible for you to sign it over to me, instead? You know - as a bit of drollery?"
The goodman just looks at you, like a man struck deaf and dumb. But surely, some part of him must be considering it - clearly, his intent is to quit his office, and if he were to acquiesce, then he could be done here right away.
"See, my name is Wilhelmina, and I happen to be named after my father ... so I figure when I present the Patent to him, and say that you have written it over to him, and then he looks at it, only to see that it has been written over to <span class="mu-i">me</span> instead, he will get a smile out of it. He has always so enjoyed practical - uh, oh what's the word ..."
The word you were going to use, of course, was 'jokes'. But you get the sense that someone of your presumed stature doesn't make 'jokes', so you desperately scramble for a more proper word to bandy here.
"Persiflage. Yes, practical persiflage."
You are not entirely sure that persiflage actually means joke, but when father briefly taught you about the School of Frivolities, which the Cold-Touch cast belongs to, he mentioned in passing how many Persiflages he needed to dig through just to find something of value - and ever since then, you have assumed that persiflage is an older and entirely more proper word for joke. Whether you are right or wrong, it seems that the goodman is not inclined to challenge you on it.
"And as I said, he is still recovering from the crossing. So when he sees ... that you have actually written my name in place of his, he ... well, I am sure that he will ...laugh."
From the complete lack of response from the goodman, you quickly come to the conclusion that your little gambit is a mule. A moment later, the goodman actually confirms as much when he says -
