Tristan's eyes widened slightly, and once again he wondered at the strange ways lives interconnected. This was poor Mrs. Sonia Meijer he was talking about...

Then the things Mr. Carrington said about the hug caught his interest. He remembered the pronoun he had used for "Calliope". It could be that? He was an artist... Or it could be how unaccustomed the poor man was to affection. Tristan did feel very sorry for him. Mr. Carrington showed signs of vanity. He clearly didn't reflect much on the impact of his words on others. But he had also clearly been deprived of warm relationships in which to learn how to treat others respectfully. Or indeed how to respect himself.

"Should it not? Things we are not accustomed to can feel intimidating at first, can they not? Do you feel uncomfortable with physical affection as a rule?"