"I'm sorry, Stephen...!" And indeed, Matthew did look rather sorry -- close to tears again, in fact! He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to hold them back, but still, his voice was slightly choked as he went on, "I know you speak English, I just... didn't want youto misunderstand what I'd said...! I mean, literally, that he never laid a hand on me -- to show me any affection, or to punish me! I suppose he always favoured me, given how... wild Di started off...!"
He suddenly realised, just then, what her sudden compliance with the house's sense of decorum really meant, and he looked faintly ill at this thought. "Oh dear God, maybe he did abuse her that damned early! Oh God...!" He buried his face -- which was still flushed with his embarrassment, as well as the wine, in his free hand.
"I mean, my God, Stephen, she settled down around the age of four! Which was really when I became a sort of... father figure to her, which is why I mentioned being eight! Oh dear Lord, Stephen, I mean... she was four years old -- not a sexual creature yet at all!" He blinked, and added quickly, "I mean-- not that I consider her to be a sexual creature even now!"
This last exclamation was, naturellement,, a base lie; he'd been imagining himself in bed with her, ever since he'd found out about her and Father!