Ford's mouth twitched towards a frown the moment he heard her giggle. He knew Grace well enough to know when her laughter was genuine and when it was not. He knew all of the girls well enough to know, he thought, but it was more jarring to hear it from Grace, because she didn't pretend nearly so often (nor so well) as Verity did. He might have asked her about it, except that he didn't have to. Her body language in the next moment made it perfectly obvious how anxious she was about the entire ordeal. He saw her hand move and wanted to walk over and hug her, or maybe tell her to go sit down in the parlor for a minute so that at least she could get off her feet while they talked, but then she spoke and he couldn't help but tense slightly.

It could, though, he thought, taking a sip of his water so that he wouldn't have to worry about his expression betraying what he was thinking. One wrong step and this could all come crashing down, and your whole life would be over.

He held the water in his mouth for a moment before he swallowed it, to give himself a moment to compose his features and to think of what to say. "Well, we'll see if you say that tomorrow," he began, trying for teasing again but not quite managing the levity his tone had had a moment ago. After a beat, he added more softly, "You're going to do great, Grace."