‘Such a thirst for knowledge!’ Hood drolly exclaimed as he held back my struggling brother. ‘I think I shall need two chief assistants just to keep the peace.’

My father, restraining me in a similar fashion as I continued to thrash, emitted a dry chuckle. “Hood, these boys will spar at the slightest provocation. They are BORN RUMBLERS. Just the other day, that one dropped a vase on this one’s head.”

‘So we will have to be careful, like spies,’ said my brother. I nodded vigorously – for what young boy does not entertain dreams of being a skilled intelligencer, pursuing secretive duties for crown and country, reliant on wits and nerve alone while plunged deep within enemy terrain?