He hadn't been expecting her to take the suggestion personally at all, so this caught him entirely off guard. Was it better that she thought his reluctance was due to the prolonged unease in their marriage, and nothing to do with the event itself? It was a lesser of two evils sort of situation; both lead to uncomfortable conversations for him. "I'm not indifferent," he protested stiffly. He didn't know how else to defend himself from the accusation other than to just deny it. Surely she couldn't have chosen that word intentionally and seriously? He had never been indifferent to her; could never be indifferent to her. If his feeling towards her were indifferent, it would have been easier to talk to her. He could even have seduced her if he had been indifferent; he'd done it plenty of times before, with other women he didn't truly care about. He had practiced that sort of easy, superficial charm for decades. It was so difficult to be around Angelica precisely because he was incapable of indifference where she was concerned.
Lou made this! <3