Ben couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. Just mosey on over and have a little chit-chat with Argus Scrimgeour, huh? Because that would have helped matters. What was he supposed to say? Claiming his intentions were pure and honorable would have been a lie. Waltzing up and starting with 'hey, I think your daughter is fun to chat with when she's drinking' would not have assuaged anyone's concerns.

"Yeah, because I'm going to turn into the perfect gentleman and we're going to have a fairytale wedding," he said sarcastically. "And set up in a nice corner house in Wellingtonshire and a summer villa in Wales, right? That's definitely how this story ends. If only I'd thought to go meet her father."

He was narrating this as though he were talking about him and Miss Scrimgeour, but it was just as applicable or even more so talking about the two of them. They'd never had an option for that sort of ending — and in Ben's opinion, it would've been incredibly naive of her to think otherwise.