Before the smile, Briseis had seen that other expression, the one that crept in so often. Briseis knew what it meant and who that anxiety was about. Her lips parted softly to say what she'd already said a hundred times, but she closed them and took a sip of her wine instead, knowing Helen already knew it anyway.
I won't let him near you, she had told Helen. I won't let him touch you.
So instead of telling Helen platitudes of her protection, Briseis curled her legs up under her on the couch and said, a little mischievously, "I very almost brought home a box of kittens today."