The chuckle in response to his answer was unavoidable; accidentally setting a desk on fire was so unequivocally Tybalt that when he'd told her the story she hadn't even been surprised. Sometimes she had to wonder if he would have ever gotten through OWLs or NEWTs without her constant pestering. It was one of her favorite qualities of his that never failed to amuse her.

The knot of worry in the pit of her stomach tightened when he turned the question back on her. How easy it would have been to tease him about the desk or to feign that everything was fine, but she knew it wasn't, he'd likely caught on that something was the matter and she could't bring herself to delay anymore even though that's all she wanted to do. Thinking about it on her own had gotten her nowhere and she was sure Mr. Adlard would want an answer of some kind- and soon and she just hoped she could come up with something reasonable, quickly so as to avoid the most drama. Hopefully one that left her parents out of the mix.

"Well, that's the question isn't it." She passed him a wry smile. "In the moment, wonderful." It had been so long since they'd dared to take a moment like this all to themselves. Their agreement not to take anymore chances was a struggle to say the least and so when she got these rare moments she hated to upset the feeling, but this time it was necessary. Sighing softly, she wondered where to even begin, but supposed the issue itself would be the best place. "I have- accidentally I swear," Elsie still had no idea how she'd even managed to catch Tyb, let alone unintentionally find herself with a courtship offer from Mr. Adlard. It baffled her to this day; she was mousy, shy, quiet, entirely unlike anything a respectable gentleman would want in a wife. Falling in love with Tyb had been easy, though not the plan, she supposed, friends first which grew into something more, but all she'd done was write to Mr. Adlard about books! She felt like she hardly knew him, aside from their shared love of literature and mutual dislike of social events.

"I ah, received an offer of courtship from an acquaintance from the library." It came out as a rushed sentence, hardly audible. She was dreading his response, but he had to know. All she wanted was for it to be out there so they could figure it out together, or at least if that was even possible.