Ford wasn't at all sure about this notion that in order to lead happy and successful lives, his sisters first needed to see him doing the same. Maybe that held some merit for parents, because children had no urgency to their futures. They could afford to take things in at leisure. The girls, Ford hoped, were rather past that stage; they'd already learned anything they were going to learn by example, and now what most needed to happen in order to ensure their future happiness was that the looming deadline of spinsterhood needed to be avoided.
"You're too young for them, anyway," Ford responded, deciding to avoid the first topic altogether. This was easier to dismiss out of hand, and less likely to poke at any nerves for either of them, because of course it was ridiculous to imagine Tycho with any of Ford's sisters. It wasn't actually that he was too young, or at least not entirely. He was Noble's age, which was a respectable enough age difference for Clementine. The idea of Clementine even talking to Tycho made Ford want to laugh, though; he couldn't imagine them doing anything more than talking. "But it's not that you'd make a poor brother-in-law, only a poor husband. Merlin knows you'd be better than Swann," Ford said with a shrug. He had nothing against Swann; or at least, nothing specific. He had a vague sense of unease about this whole thing, and the suspicion that Swann was either sinister or stupid or maybe both. In any case, Ford was hardly hanging around Everett Swann's parlor while he lazily painted in the corner, so.
He took a deep breath and consider Tycho's question. Before I was head of the Greengrass family, I had money. That probably wasn't exactly true, but at least he'd never known he was penniless before, and that made a world of difference in how one spent leisure time. He couldn't go gallivanting around taking weekend trips to random parts of the English countryside and buy himself new poetry books and go see a play on a whim now. Not without the guilt eating him alive first, anyway.
"I don't remember," he lied, and covered his eyes with one arm.
"You're too young for them, anyway," Ford responded, deciding to avoid the first topic altogether. This was easier to dismiss out of hand, and less likely to poke at any nerves for either of them, because of course it was ridiculous to imagine Tycho with any of Ford's sisters. It wasn't actually that he was too young, or at least not entirely. He was Noble's age, which was a respectable enough age difference for Clementine. The idea of Clementine even talking to Tycho made Ford want to laugh, though; he couldn't imagine them doing anything more than talking. "But it's not that you'd make a poor brother-in-law, only a poor husband. Merlin knows you'd be better than Swann," Ford said with a shrug. He had nothing against Swann; or at least, nothing specific. He had a vague sense of unease about this whole thing, and the suspicion that Swann was either sinister or stupid or maybe both. In any case, Ford was hardly hanging around Everett Swann's parlor while he lazily painted in the corner, so.
He took a deep breath and consider Tycho's question. Before I was head of the Greengrass family, I had money. That probably wasn't exactly true, but at least he'd never known he was penniless before, and that made a world of difference in how one spent leisure time. He couldn't go gallivanting around taking weekend trips to random parts of the English countryside and buy himself new poetry books and go see a play on a whim now. Not without the guilt eating him alive first, anyway.
"I don't remember," he lied, and covered his eyes with one arm.
Set by Lady!