Varric really couldn't have written a more perfect scene, complete with his own conflicted feelings. The situation had made him realize he cared a great deal more for Helen than he'd thought, but was it love?
Was he even capable of feeling the romantic part of love, instead of the platonic or ..whatever the hell his feelings for Hawke were.
Helen wasn't Bianca, either the crossbow or the woman it had been named for. But she knew and understood that, "I love you too, Helen."