It was impossible to not notice the front that spread on her features when Shawn corrected his misstep by using her given name. Not matter the experiences they'd shared during that potion induced high, he still didn't have any right to call her by her name. She hadn't exactly given him permission to do so. And, even if she had, it wasn't given freely. Not in the sense that was expected at least.
And as she tried to make matters better by telling him what happened wasn't a concern, he couldn't help but notice the tightness of her smile in the moments before he'd dropped his gaze. It still shouldn't have happened, none of it should have. Someone thought to play cupid and had risked ruining lives. But what was worse was the fact that looking back on it all now, he didn't really mind that it had happened. Had the letters not come to him, he'd likely have never met the woman sitting before him. It was a strange sort of happenstance, one that he was surprised with how happy it had made him.
He glanced up to her at her mention of kindness though he continued to clutch his hands tightly together in his lap. He was sure there was more to her words than what she let on, more than what he actually knew of her past. She'd told him he was a squib, he remembered that much, but he didn't see how that would correlate to not being shown kindness. But, then again, America was like an entirely different world compared to Britain. Propriety was taken to a whole other level of extreme and prejudice was just as bad.
"That's unfortunate to hear," he answered honestly, unable to stop the grimace from forming at the thoughts even if she was smiling back at him again, "Everyone deserves kindness. Especially a lady such as yourself." And that was the truth. She was a gentle soul and he'd seen a great bit of compassion within her from those days spent in such close proximity. If others didn't see that, or refused to, simply because she was lacking magic then they were idiots. The whole lot of them
And as she tried to make matters better by telling him what happened wasn't a concern, he couldn't help but notice the tightness of her smile in the moments before he'd dropped his gaze. It still shouldn't have happened, none of it should have. Someone thought to play cupid and had risked ruining lives. But what was worse was the fact that looking back on it all now, he didn't really mind that it had happened. Had the letters not come to him, he'd likely have never met the woman sitting before him. It was a strange sort of happenstance, one that he was surprised with how happy it had made him.
He glanced up to her at her mention of kindness though he continued to clutch his hands tightly together in his lap. He was sure there was more to her words than what she let on, more than what he actually knew of her past. She'd told him he was a squib, he remembered that much, but he didn't see how that would correlate to not being shown kindness. But, then again, America was like an entirely different world compared to Britain. Propriety was taken to a whole other level of extreme and prejudice was just as bad.
"That's unfortunate to hear," he answered honestly, unable to stop the grimace from forming at the thoughts even if she was smiling back at him again, "Everyone deserves kindness. Especially a lady such as yourself." And that was the truth. She was a gentle soul and he'd seen a great bit of compassion within her from those days spent in such close proximity. If others didn't see that, or refused to, simply because she was lacking magic then they were idiots. The whole lot of them