Her comment stung slightly, though he was sure Charity hadn't intended it to. He really should have come earlier. It shouldn't take a threat of death to get him to actually engage with what little family he had left. "I know," he said with a frown. "I'm sorry, I was —" he was about to say busy, but that would have been a lie. Because of the machinations of the Ministry, February had been possibly his least-busy month since he'd returned to England. He could have lied to her, but he felt, for some reason, like she would see straight through it. Maybe that was something he'd heard about children in general, or maybe it was just a feeling he got about her, he wasn't sure. But he didn't want to start off the day by lying to her — and if she pressed him on it, he might be forced to tell her the truth, which would be even worse.

"... Distracted," he finished after a second's pause. The fact that his ship was cursed and the life of his crew was in danger had certainly been distracting, he could say that honestly. The news about himself was... well, distracting was too mild a term, but it would have to suffice. "But I'm here today. And I wanted to ask if you wanted to get out of the house for a few hours and do one of my favorite things."