He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head as if he were about to challenge her. Except he wasn't sure what he'd be challenging, so he nodded instead and went back to shelving.
It took a long time for him to answer and when he did it was in a subdued voice. "I have no illusions about the role that the Marquise played... but she did nothing that he had not done himself to other people. He mistook her motives, her real motives, and for that he paid a price. They all did." He wasn't talking to Ella any longer. He wasn't talking to anyone really, just emptying a pool of memory that had come dangerously close to overflowing.