"Dreadful," Lucius said, hiding his relief behind a sympathetic face. It was no great comfort that whatever had upset her was not, apparently, his fault ... but it was some comfort. It freed him to sit beside her, for instance, and to smooth her hair away from her face without too much danger of being rebuffed - always a good thing. "I hope it will be. Mine was spectacularly boring. The less said the better, really. - Is there anything I can do?" It was hardy a subtle change of subject, but he really did not intend to discuss with her how he spent his time these days.
And if there was some way he could make it easier on her, of course, he was eager to hear it. Seeing her distressed always seemed to feed his gnawing guilt, and that was not a feeling he was accustomed to.