Christabel seemed to have taken his incredulity entirely the wrong way, which annoyed him. It may have been his fault for not being more forthcoming about his rational, but it wasn't in his nature to offer loquacious explanations without being asked; he was not a writer.

"Yes, obviously," he replied with some impatience. As much as he lombasted his siblings to his friends, or mocked them within the confines of the family, he would entertain no serious notions of Dempsey inferiority in any respect. And the Daphnels were ... fine, he supposed, but nothing so special that she could seriously feel self conscious in that regard.

"Perhaps it's not him so much as his timing," Oz reflected. "But it's suspect either way."

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