Provincial is a hard word to put to Byerly, but maybe that's the point. He goes on about fall coats and far-off planets so much that you assume that he's not a country boy, but it doesn't stop him from picking up one of these spice cakes and savoring it like it's caviar. Maybe it's more diversion, to cover up whatever he lacks for experience.

Or maybe this is the diversion, the way he suggests that actually, he's not as sophisticated as she might have thought. She can't decide, but it's another thing she files in the "probably true, if anything is" column. Maybe it's wishful thinking.

"You think I'm going to be rich and fabulous now?" She's dubious, amused, and reluctantly swallows the last of her cookie. "For sprinkles."