A great number of reports have now reached my office which I deem persistent enough to warrant my attention. They regard Phineas, your son, and his associations inside and outside of the castle. I am writing to inform you that I am addressing the matter directly and with the upmost severity. However, I am forced to conclude that these reports are no longer incidences of isolated gossip.
I have given consideration to how such associations and sympathies may have arisen in a boy his age, and given my absence from the household in recent months, the answer is regrettably obvious.
You have, against all better judgement, always favored gentleness in matters where firmness should be employed. I cautioned against this when the boy was younger, and I do not find it coincidental, merely disgraceful, that my very namesake exhibits a comfort with ideas and company beneath him as a result.
I should hope, had you observed any behaviours hinting towards such sympathies and associations, you would quell it before putting our name in jeopardy. I have spoken to the boy and made our position most clear. Should preposterous notions persist, we must consider inheritance. Furthermore, if there are tendencies on YOUR side of the family you failed to make me aware of prior to our arrangement, I require it now.
I find it troubling that I am learning of this through external sources rather than from yourself. You are their mother, a Black, and you ought correct them in their behaviour wherever possible. I will not have my household governed by rumour due to incompetence.
I am correcting this situation. What concerns me is discovering I appear the only one of us who deems correction necessary. For your sake I shall assume you to have been ignorant to these rumours. However, if there is information you possess you feel I do not, it would be… inadvisable to withhold it.
