"The saying is 'misery loves company', I believe," Anton observed, watching Skulduggery abandon the cake while sipping his own tea. "Not 'insanity loves company', which I've heard is the opposite."

Then he fell silent, not because he was precisely stunned by Erskine's suggestion but because it was coming from Erskine. How often had the Dead Men discussed changing long-term policies? Almost never. In retrospect, that might have been a mistake; so many terrible secrets might have come out sooner, if they had.

This one wasn't a terrible secret--just a customary one. Rue had always been a secret. One of the few secrets the Dead Men had held collectively, apparently, so Anton was fairly sure that was the reason behind his immediate refusal.

Then he actually thought about it. Valdis would delight in the secret. She'd appreciate the prank. There was no reason to keep that particular secret here, and the last thing Anton wanted was to re-encourage either Erskine or Skulduggery back toward secret-keeping. So after a minute of thought, by which time his cup was half-empty, he said, "I've no objections. Is there a particular reason why?"