He didn't like seeing her frown, especially when he didn't know the cause. But he also wasn't ready to let the conversational thread drop. "Perhaps. But I'm not the one that is always trying to perfect my theories... I'm not a character out of a novel, Ella. If I were, I'd be far worse than Valmont. But I'm not. And you'll get tired of theorizing long before you get anywhere close to the things you really ought to care about..." He turned to look out the windows, his easy smile slipping at the corners.