He couldn’t understand the way his brother was looking at him. Like he’d lost his mind. “Me? Absurd?!” he spluttered, gaping. He was literally the one speaking sense. Obviously no one else had tried to at all.
And perhaps it was true that calling things off at this late stage would make people think worse (just a little) of Miss Pomfrey, if not of Ozymandias – Endymion would never have dreamed of doing such a thing as breaking an engagement off this late – but Oz 1) obviously did not care in the slightest about Miss Pomfrey or her feelings and 2) had always been more selfish than selfless. So why wasn’t he being more selfish now?
Endymion swallowed, swiftly stepping over to grasp Oz’s upper arm – either to pull him back off the ledge or to forcibly shake some sense into him, he hadn’t quite decided. (Had Oz already come to the conclusion that he couldn’t possibly sustain this farce of a marriage, and was merely keeping tight-lipped about it so that he could dramatically flounce off at the altar in front of everyone, just to make a scene? Dymion was so worried he almost hoped so.) “People will forget the scandal soon enough. You don’t need to – to – be unhappy forever just to make a point.” Endymion didn’t actually know what point was being made here, but he had to assume there was one.
And perhaps it was true that calling things off at this late stage would make people think worse (just a little) of Miss Pomfrey, if not of Ozymandias – Endymion would never have dreamed of doing such a thing as breaking an engagement off this late – but Oz 1) obviously did not care in the slightest about Miss Pomfrey or her feelings and 2) had always been more selfish than selfless. So why wasn’t he being more selfish now?
Endymion swallowed, swiftly stepping over to grasp Oz’s upper arm – either to pull him back off the ledge or to forcibly shake some sense into him, he hadn’t quite decided. (Had Oz already come to the conclusion that he couldn’t possibly sustain this farce of a marriage, and was merely keeping tight-lipped about it so that he could dramatically flounce off at the altar in front of everyone, just to make a scene? Dymion was so worried he almost hoped so.) “People will forget the scandal soon enough. You don’t need to – to – be unhappy forever just to make a point.” Endymion didn’t actually know what point was being made here, but he had to assume there was one.
