Ernie was a bit stunned. Well, only a bit. While he found it hard to imagine family being so cold to family (the clan Macmillan got on quite well, mostly), we knew it happened, especially with the types of attitudes Megan was talking about.
"That really is absurd, I think," Ernie said after a moment. "He should at least have kept his disapproving in private. Not that he should disapprove at all, after all, your mother's marriage got some good results," he said with a little gesture towards Meg, "but one would think he'd be tactful about it."