Did Cash actually care what his wife's friends thought of him, Ford wondered, or was that only something to say? It was good if he did, not because the opinions of Adrienne Lestrange's friends made any difference, but because caring what anyone thought was a good sign. There was a time when that hadn't been true. (That had been dangerous, but it had also maybe been useful — if Cash had cared at all what Ford had thought of him when they met, he might not have written him when the dementor showed up).
But it was also the sort of joke people might make just because it was a joke people sometimes made, with nothing of substance behind it at all. Ford decided to treat it like such and responded in kind, with a chuckle: "Sometimes I'm glad that I won't ever have to worry about that stuff." That stuff being marriage and everything that accompanied it. He'd been making jokes like this with Tycho often enough that he didn't think twice about making the same joke now — for all it was untrue.
But it was also the sort of joke people might make just because it was a joke people sometimes made, with nothing of substance behind it at all. Ford decided to treat it like such and responded in kind, with a chuckle: "Sometimes I'm glad that I won't ever have to worry about that stuff." That stuff being marriage and everything that accompanied it. He'd been making jokes like this with Tycho often enough that he didn't think twice about making the same joke now — for all it was untrue.
Set by Lady!