Gwen's laugh tugs him out of his thoughts, if only a little. He cannot say he is entirely cheered, but he is in a little better state than he was before. He has missed that laugh, even if he knows that it doesn't always mean that things are right. "I would be more than happy to give it," he replies with a soft smile, but he still can't bring himself to turn around just yet. The fear has not quite left him

Knowing could be such a burden. After all, if being unable to say anything now could hurt so much, he could only imagine what she had gone through all those years. And with so much else to see.

He wonders how she could possibly have stood it, but she was always stronger than him.

But he could act, and so he finally puts on a mask, looking back at her with a bright grin and another playful wink. "I am more than certain you will find moi's abode to your liking, mademoiselle."