"What was that?" Professor Bedwen asked Major Craen when they were left alone in the dining room.
"That was me quashing some unpleasant rumors," the Major replied, taking a long sip out of his cup of coffee.
"I got that," Professor Bedwen said. "But why? Intimidating gossipers is not a very good strategy in quashing rumors. It's usually counter-productive."
He had quite a lot of experience with unpleasant rumors, himself.
Suing individual people and ruining their lives, however pleasant, didn't work in silencing critics.
"Thankfully, your granddaughter understands reality more than you do," the Major said, "or we'd be in trouble. What matters isn't what the rumors say, but who repeats them. As long as the people who matter don't repeat them, you can ignore them. That's why Dana can ig
