Ines made a small, choked, whimpering sound, right there in the garden.
She held her cheeks. They were, all of a sudden, burning. They were hotter than the French sun she had just imagined.
Carcel, who had been watching her, who had seen her bright, dazzling smile... and who had then seen it crumple, replaced by a look of wide-eyed, blushing, panic...
He understood.
He was, after all, a man who knows the rules of society. He was not an idiot. He had just, in his own, impulsive, stupid way, offered to elope with his best friend's sister which was not in anyway intentional.
He had to fix this. Quickly.
He cleared his throat.
"Of course," he said, his voice casual, reasonable, and full of a kindness that was, somehow, almost as painful as her own foolishness. "We would have to... manage it."
He leaned forward, his expression now one of a helpful friend.
