Miles winced, knowing he would have to think of an excuse for turning up at the ball. The only thing he could think of at the moment was having a change of heart, and coming to donate so that the service could pay for more locally trained aurors and the foreign ones could go home. After his run-in with that Hunt, nobody would think it odd of him. "I'm sure I can, sir," he replied.
He didn't know why Rodolphus got that look on his face when he mentioned Daphne's name, but even he agreed that her last husband had been a tosser. The way in which he said 'black widow' and 'luck' sent an uneasy feeling down his spine, and he shivered. Perhaps there had been a subconscious reason for the mutual protection clause in their marriage contract. He simply nodded in acknowledgement, knowing that in a few months it wouldn't matter anyway. It would be annulled, and they could both put this nasty mess behind them.
Miles wondered exactly what he was still waiting around for, when he saw a rather unpleasantly sallow man walk in with a vial. Before he knew it, he was being asked to roll up his sleeve. He was curious, looking up to Rodolphus, even as he was rolling up his sleeve. "What's this?" he asked, not sure if he really should be quite so co-operative. But he'd been programmed to comply, so he simply did.