The sentiment would have been pitiful enough if she hadn't met his eyes while she said it. That made it worse, Ford was sure, though he would have struggled to articulate why. Maybe it was easier to assume that she really believed it when he could see her eyes while she said it. No empty self-effacement for the sake of modesty, no false humility at play; she seemed to really think he was coming out of this worse off than she was. And given the circumstances — given the rumors, and the thing he'd just apologized for, and everything he'd just told her about the crowded house full of potentially unwelcoming family she would soon be joining — this seemed to imply she held herself (or at least her value as a future wife) in very low estimation. He felt a pang of grief for her sake, laced through with a vein of fondness — because this was something Grace might have said, in a similar situation, and this was not the first time she had said or done something that reminded him of Grace.
Sorry, Tycho, he thought, but I think I've determined to like her. In the long term, of course, this was better for both of them... but it did feel like something of a betrayal to have determined it so soon.
But here, finally, he was on surer ground. He had next to no experience trying to woo anyone, unless one counted the visits he'd paid Miss Chang just for the sake of getting her family off her case when it came to prospective suitors. He had no experience being engaged to someone he barely knew and trying to find the right line between practicality and sentiment. But he did know how to talk to people who were distraught — and after weathering the conversation politely for this long she seemed to have let her mask slip enough for it to be obvious that she was, after all, distraught.
"No, let's not say that," he replied gently. "We can both be sorry to be marrying someone we don't know yet, but let's hold back judgement on whether I ought to be sorry about marrying you." He offered her a small smile, half hopeful and half wry, as though he wasn't sure whether or not he intended this remark as a joke. "Can you show me your favorite place here?"
Sorry, Tycho, he thought, but I think I've determined to like her. In the long term, of course, this was better for both of them... but it did feel like something of a betrayal to have determined it so soon.
But here, finally, he was on surer ground. He had next to no experience trying to woo anyone, unless one counted the visits he'd paid Miss Chang just for the sake of getting her family off her case when it came to prospective suitors. He had no experience being engaged to someone he barely knew and trying to find the right line between practicality and sentiment. But he did know how to talk to people who were distraught — and after weathering the conversation politely for this long she seemed to have let her mask slip enough for it to be obvious that she was, after all, distraught.
"No, let's not say that," he replied gently. "We can both be sorry to be marrying someone we don't know yet, but let's hold back judgement on whether I ought to be sorry about marrying you." He offered her a small smile, half hopeful and half wry, as though he wasn't sure whether or not he intended this remark as a joke. "Can you show me your favorite place here?"
Set by Lady!