From Fallen London Wiki
...was this, in hindsight, a massive triple bluff? they look like spies pretending to be normal people, banding under a flag of a saint who was mistaken for a spy. if you're too clever by half, you might assume that there's going to be some contrivance by which, somehow, despite everything, this is a massive misunderstanding and they're following in Coloman's footsteps. but nope, they're just normal obvious-spies after all.