The question startled Ford enough to pull his eyes away from the fireplace and look at Noble, the first time he'd done so for more than just a furtive glance since his brother had brought up the letters. "No. Of course not." Ford was surprised that this needed to be clarified — the most pathetic thing about the letters was that they were all in past tense, clearly written without any intention to be sent.
"He has a son," Ford said with something like exasperation — not over the fact that Macnair had a child, but rather that he apparently needed to clarify to his brother that he wasn't the sort of person who would actively destroy someone's family. The fact that they'd seen each other after Macnair was married was bad enough, and something Ford still felt guilty about every time he thought about it, but he never could have been selfish enough to have taken Macnair away from a child who needed him, who was innocent, who had not made a decision of its own volition to join a loveless family. It hurt that Noble didn't already know that, without having to clarify.
"This doesn't — I'm the same person," he added desperately. "I'm not — not some crazy degenerate or something."
"He has a son," Ford said with something like exasperation — not over the fact that Macnair had a child, but rather that he apparently needed to clarify to his brother that he wasn't the sort of person who would actively destroy someone's family. The fact that they'd seen each other after Macnair was married was bad enough, and something Ford still felt guilty about every time he thought about it, but he never could have been selfish enough to have taken Macnair away from a child who needed him, who was innocent, who had not made a decision of its own volition to join a loveless family. It hurt that Noble didn't already know that, without having to clarify.
"This doesn't — I'm the same person," he added desperately. "I'm not — not some crazy degenerate or something."
Set by Lady!