Ford was grateful for her smile, even though he didn't know how to interpret it. She wasn't surprised or offended that he'd been ad-libbing to anyone who asked about their supposed affection, then; she did not look inclined to be angry. The smile might only have meant and can't we both agree that it's ridiculous? and Ford would still have been grateful for it — they could both agree that it was ridiculous, after all, if they allowed themselves to have a conversation so frank as that. They wouldn't, he had gathered. The most on-the-nose thing she had managed so far was I know this isn't, with no adjective to follow, and Ford had not done much better.
"I'm sorry, too," he offered earnestly. He was. At the heart of this situation, Miss Farley was a woman in a bad situation, and every bit of involvement he had in that situation had only made matters worse. He had briefly wondered if he was more the victim than he realized, when he heard she had been 'engaged' in January and reconsidered how she might have come to be half undressed in the coatroom. But even the worst light his imagination could paint her in did not change that she had not been expecting him to come in through the floo, and had been trying to maintain her innocence to Mrs. Dempsey when he had ruined all chances of it. She might not be faultless, but the present situation was still primarily his fault, he had determined.
And anyway, it was hard to imagine she could have been behind any sort of devious plot while he was watching her sit on the sofa with her arms wrapped around herself. He set the flowers down on the side table. "But — yes," he agreed, leaning his elbows against the top of his knees (perhaps subconsciously mirroring her curved-in posture a bit). "Yes, we'll — I mean that I'd like to. Make the best of it. I don't imagine it will be easy, but — I shouldn't like to ruin your life entirely," he said with a wry twist of his mouth.
"I'm sorry, too," he offered earnestly. He was. At the heart of this situation, Miss Farley was a woman in a bad situation, and every bit of involvement he had in that situation had only made matters worse. He had briefly wondered if he was more the victim than he realized, when he heard she had been 'engaged' in January and reconsidered how she might have come to be half undressed in the coatroom. But even the worst light his imagination could paint her in did not change that she had not been expecting him to come in through the floo, and had been trying to maintain her innocence to Mrs. Dempsey when he had ruined all chances of it. She might not be faultless, but the present situation was still primarily his fault, he had determined.
And anyway, it was hard to imagine she could have been behind any sort of devious plot while he was watching her sit on the sofa with her arms wrapped around herself. He set the flowers down on the side table. "But — yes," he agreed, leaning his elbows against the top of his knees (perhaps subconsciously mirroring her curved-in posture a bit). "Yes, we'll — I mean that I'd like to. Make the best of it. I don't imagine it will be easy, but — I shouldn't like to ruin your life entirely," he said with a wry twist of his mouth.
Set by Lady!