"Maybe I was bored." Being holed up in the castle all night did, after all, get to be entirely uninteresting after a while, and Briony was otherwise occupied tonight. He hadn't bothered to find out what was keeping her busy; it didn't seem important.

"Anyway, the majority of the ones I get dragged to are my mother's formal gatherings, not that I expect that to matter much to you, Lady." Wherein he's reminded that he's an embarrassment, but still has to attend, for one reason or another.

He never claimed to understand women.