He would have opened a window, if any Ministry offices had one. He’d have to filter out the tobacco smell when his brother was gone.
For the moment, Trystan was distracted by the intrigue here: so it was not the desire for a heir that had Emrys considering the unthinkable. Hm. Surely heirs were the only thing his brother was lacking in his affairs - and he must still be having casual affairs, if with a better track record or more forethought than Trystan had when it came to not begetting bastards in the process, else what was he doing with all his free time?
But it sounded like Emrys must have gotten himself flirting with scandal of some kind, if he was suddenly wary of society bothering him. If it were Daniel, he might have prodded more callously to figure out what sordid little secrets he was hiding, but he restrained himself a little better here, confined himself to one casual observation. “I didn’t know anything could bother you that much,” - and yes, Emrys had an air of disdain for most everything, but he was not the sort of man one could often push into doing something he did not want to do either, and certainly not by society.
Unfortunately, Trystan had the bother of both judgemental society and a judgemental wife, but if Emrys could manage less bother he supported him wholeheartedly in pursuit of it. “Just pick a wife who’s too laidback to be a bother,” he suggested easily: because that was the ideal, wasn’t it? An attractive young wife who was also too placid and charming and guileless to give him any trouble. Practically any young debutante would do.
For the moment, Trystan was distracted by the intrigue here: so it was not the desire for a heir that had Emrys considering the unthinkable. Hm. Surely heirs were the only thing his brother was lacking in his affairs - and he must still be having casual affairs, if with a better track record or more forethought than Trystan had when it came to not begetting bastards in the process, else what was he doing with all his free time?
But it sounded like Emrys must have gotten himself flirting with scandal of some kind, if he was suddenly wary of society bothering him. If it were Daniel, he might have prodded more callously to figure out what sordid little secrets he was hiding, but he restrained himself a little better here, confined himself to one casual observation. “I didn’t know anything could bother you that much,” - and yes, Emrys had an air of disdain for most everything, but he was not the sort of man one could often push into doing something he did not want to do either, and certainly not by society.
Unfortunately, Trystan had the bother of both judgemental society and a judgemental wife, but if Emrys could manage less bother he supported him wholeheartedly in pursuit of it. “Just pick a wife who’s too laidback to be a bother,” he suggested easily: because that was the ideal, wasn’t it? An attractive young wife who was also too placid and charming and guileless to give him any trouble. Practically any young debutante would do.
