[He doesn't think her the sort to needle someone out of malcontent. It does not call his defenses to arms, but he is still endlessly wary of questions. So he spins her gently away from him and follows the instructor's suit to pull her back in. He keeps a greater distance between them - dance instruction does not trump eighteenth century propriety - and is mindful of where he puts his hands to a greater extent than some men might be.]
I had excellent teachers.
[It's a neutral answer, but if she cares to pay attention there's an old ache beneath the words, born of searing sentiment. He does not speak needlessly of Thomas and Miranda. They are both secrets he's kept for different reasons. Thomas-- because discussing him was too raw a matter, and Miranda because Mrs. Barlow and Mrs. Hamilton were two separate entities, as Flint and McGraw became. But in this place, where so much is unknown to him, where this woman's grasp of history extends to knowing vaguely of an Anne Bonny, there seems to harm in this mild reference. After all, he has given her no reason to believe its veracity.]
no subject
I had excellent teachers.
[It's a neutral answer, but if she cares to pay attention there's an old ache beneath the words, born of searing sentiment. He does not speak needlessly of Thomas and Miranda. They are both secrets he's kept for different reasons. Thomas-- because discussing him was too raw a matter, and Miranda because Mrs. Barlow and Mrs. Hamilton were two separate entities, as Flint and McGraw became. But in this place, where so much is unknown to him, where this woman's grasp of history extends to knowing vaguely of an Anne Bonny, there seems to harm in this mild reference. After all, he has given her no reason to believe its veracity.]