docs: def loadf(*fnames, default=_NoDefault, missing=Missing.silent):
      """
      Read a `.Configuration` instance from named files.
  
      :param fnames: name of the files to ``open()``
      :param default: `dict` or `.Configuration` to use when a file does not
          exist (default is to raise a `FileNotFoundError`)
      :param missing: policy to be used when a configured key is missing, either
          as a `.Missing` instance or a default value
      :return: a `.Configuration` instance providing values from *fnames*
      :rtype: `.Configuration`
      """
      def readf(fname):
          if default is _NoDefault or path.exists(fname):
              # (attempt to) open fname if it exists OR if we're expected to raise an error on a missing file
              with open(fname, 'r') as fp:
                  # default to empty dict, yaml.safe_load will return None for an empty document
                  return yaml.safe_load(fp.read()) or {}
          else:
              return default
  
      return Configuration(*(readf(path.expanduser(fname)) for fname in fnames), missing=missing)