'You suggest I might have wished to court your brother?' he said with a quick laugh of surprise. 'He was very different from you, was he not? Likely more agreeable and quicker to smile. Born to rule as I was, trained for it.'

He said it all with no small amount of fondness and the end in a softer tone as he shook his head. 'After knowing you as I have, I feel like I'd find anyone else very boring, even your brother though I mean no offense.'