"Because then you stand out," Ford returned without thinking. His tone was still light, joking, but he immediately wondered if the response was too earnest. Drawing too much attention to oneself was obviously a negative for someone who didn't want to flirt with women because they could absolutely never afford to marry one, but it wasn't as though that was public knowledge. He hadn't even told Tycho. There were other reasons that one might not want to stand out, though; hopefully Miss Fawcett didn't know him well enough to suspect that any of them rang false.

"I might not even get this one," he said, mostly to change the subject. "But I appreciate the handkerchief advice."

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