The comment about not debuting might have been something he reacted more sternly to had it come from Clementine, but from Grace he knew this was less resistance and more anxiety. As she continued speaking, that only became more apparent. Nobody will look at me twice when she's there. Ford didn't agree with that assessment at all, but he wasn't sure he could say as much. He knew Grace had all sorts of redeeming qualities that more than made up for her occasional social awkwardness. She was kind, and sweet, and had one of the best laughs in the world when it was genuine. She had interesting opinions and she asked intelligent questions about things when they were talking on their own. Someone was going to see all of that, sooner or later, and they were going to love her for it. Someone would be the luckiest man in the world to marry her, whether Verity was around to serve as competition or not.

He didn't think it would be wise to launch in to a list of Grace's virtues compared to Verity here and now, though. They were only a few feet from the stairs, and Verity's door was right above them, and they'd only said their goodnights to their siblings a few minutes ago, which meant she couldn't possibly have been asleep.

"It is too late," he said instead, shaking his head gently. "Verity had her ball, remember? Walking down the Hogwarts staircase before everyone else in her class? Now it's your turn."