[Leslie's brow furrows. First, she has to understand what he's saying. She doesn't know "covert," but she does know indirect and deceit. It's things that you don't see and aren't done openly, but gain an advantage. So, maybe covert means.... She mumbles, more to herself than to Hubert, but she's not quiet enough for him to not hear.]
Secret things, done to affect something you want to change, with words or with violence....
[She tilts her head, considering her shortened version, but it's only a few seconds later when she answers at a more normal volume.]
Like when you pay a servant to give you information about the family they're serving, or when you spread rumours that someone with testimony that contradicts your lie is sickly and weak-willed. ...Oh, but that wouldn't work for these people, who don't care about what others think of them. With soldiers, um...is it like when you wait until most of the people guarding a location have left on other business and you outnumber whoever is left behind?
[It clearly took both time and effort to work through the definition Hubert gave, but the examples come almost immediately. Rather than trying to come up with new examples from her imagination, she merely compared the definition to things she's witnessed or heard of Marquess Sperado doing and chose the ones that seemed to fit the idea most closely. She would have struggled much more to try to invent new methods, as she is herself a very open and direct person much of the time.]
no subject
Secret things, done to affect something you want to change, with words or with violence....
[She tilts her head, considering her shortened version, but it's only a few seconds later when she answers at a more normal volume.]
Like when you pay a servant to give you information about the family they're serving, or when you spread rumours that someone with testimony that contradicts your lie is sickly and weak-willed. ...Oh, but that wouldn't work for these people, who don't care about what others think of them. With soldiers, um...is it like when you wait until most of the people guarding a location have left on other business and you outnumber whoever is left behind?
[It clearly took both time and effort to work through the definition Hubert gave, but the examples come almost immediately. Rather than trying to come up with new examples from her imagination, she merely compared the definition to things she's witnessed or heard of Marquess Sperado doing and chose the ones that seemed to fit the idea most closely. She would have struggled much more to try to invent new methods, as she is herself a very open and direct person much of the time.]