If they'd been alone, Romain might have pressed at that look from his granddaughter, but as it was, he let it pass when the conversation slid another direction. "She has, though," to her, "you'd not mentioned your new addition was a namesake." Perfectly mild. "Still, I suspect you're right that it could get some attention, if you were willing to go that route. Something concrete to contribute to Lavaud's field more directly. It seldom goes amiss with academics."

It doesn't seem as if Romain misses much, but the shift in Stephen's demeanor doesn't draw a visible reaction. Then again, Gwenaëlle has heard at length what he thought about her moving to a houseboat, and she can safely assume that adding a fire-breathing animal didn't render him more enthused. He doesn't feel the need to spell that out in this setting.

"And for what it's worth, if I thought international connections had no value, I'd have brought your cousins home by now, chérie." It's not as if Kirkwall is, at present, appreciably safer, even if that had been the original reasoning.