At first Ari only gave a dry smile at her incredulity, because Dionisia had returned with the salve. He waited while she explained it, and although he jumped up at Elliott’s cry, she got there first.

So all he could do as she left the room was throw her a grateful look and return, unwillingly, to the question Zelda had asked.

“Did I say I wanted to?” he corrected - that he would did not mean he wanted to; and whatever he had offered, it did not mean he had to personally forgive Darrow for everything, either - “but if you do mean to marry him, I suppose I’ll have to.” It didn’t sound like she had a better scheme, here; it sounded like she was frustrated by all the hoops she had to jump through (which was fair) and acting out (which was unhelpful) and although he wasn’t going to say it to her face, Zelda’s general stubbornness and tendency to hold grudges did not make her the best person, in practice, for mending rifts or gentle persuasion. (This was unfortunate.)

“Unless you have a better idea, of course -” Ari pointed out, “- that isn’t sparking another public scandal. Or sneaking around with him in the meantime until someone else catches you.” Those were the last things he wanted, for the family’s sake and hers. Hopefully Dionisia’s salve would not embolden her to try getting away with that again.

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