He would have sputtered wine all over the table if he'd been sipping at the moment. As it was he coughed. "Elderly? A spinster? What on earth...?" he started laughing and his shoulders shook, "And...at 25 do you suddenly become elderly and a spinster? Or do you have a few more years left beyond 25?" He almost asked her what she'd call his nearly 40 years, but held his tongue.
"Let's not weigh things against the whole of humanity for a moment...let's weigh it against what you would have liked. What was missing from your childhood that you wanted?" The laughter had faded into a warm, gently curious and sincere tone.