Joly grins, because that's exactly the image he'd had, too; a flock of mad French revolutionaries descending on poor Ysalwen, all full of theory and argument.

When Bossuet tugs him over, he freezes for a moment, then quickly downs his brandy. There, empty glass, no reason to fret, totally fine! Yes! He leans over to put the empty glass on the end table, and lets himself lean against Bossuet a bit.

"She's still sounding out first principles, I think. I don't envy her! It's much harder to invent than to improve--and that's hard enough."