"We are, I think, per'aps in the same class," he blushed, hastily tucking the map back into his briefcase.  "As for the letters, I am the...the blank slate, shall we say?  I cannot think of the properly decorous insult for the perfidious Turk.  He does not answer the post, you see, and I suspect him most of all of malice aforethought."<br/><br/>Vincent cleared his throat softly.<br/><br/>"I have confused you.  It is a game, you see.  And we negotiate by letter.  I am playing the Czar of Russia, and the one who plays the Sultan of Turkey is not answering me.  Or, indeed, anyone else assuming the Prime Minister, Kaiser, and President write me truthfully.  Thus, we have the brewing crisis in the Balkans, yet again."