"It was no trouble," James tries to protest, although perhaps as she was there and saw the entire event, there is no need to try. "I will admit I expected to do considerably worse than I did. Between our time in Rome and my duties at home, I fear my musket drill had considerably suffered." He'll admit that much, and possibly with one of the heavier, less accurate guns from his time, he wouldn't have had the dubious honour of winning her this stuffed monstrosity.

"I have not yet discovered the reason we have been brought here," He continues, in order to fill the silence. In the company of his fellow officers or even Governor Swann, he wasn't so concerned with quiet moments to pass. Unfortunately, if the quite here is left to its own devices, he thinks too long about how soft and warm her hand is in his, how comfortably they fit together. "Those brought here from outside do not seem united in any common cause."