Unless, of course, I already expect it. [He just says just a bit lightly while keeping up his formal air.] But talking around it will do us little good. Why don't we talk business? [Inwardly he immediately questions his word choice just because of something so minor. He remembers the other week - when talking business meant something so different. When he was a frivolous aristocrat. But he shoves that thought to the side - it's unimportant in light of what this conversation could hold.]
no subject