section7mfu | Foxes and Hounds and Recollectors Question (Reply)

After posting that lovely picture of Illya, I had a lingering urge to watch Foxes and Hounds. It struck me again how poor Napoleon was blindly led into that affair by Mr. Waverly's rather odd sense of... well, I'm not sure what that was. He seemed to take delight throughout this episode with keeping Mr. Solo completely in the dark.
And in response, Napoleon was particularly snarky about things; understandably so.
Illya seemed genuinely concerned for his partner's well being, as he was in The Recollectors when Waverly told him to not go to Napoleon's aid, assuming the CEA's excellent skills would not fail him.
So, did Waverly do this, periodically, just to test his top man? I find it curious when that attitude peeks out from behind those scruffy eyebrows.