He lets his face be lifted to hers, but he can't quite meet her gaze. His eyes stay on her lips - watching as she speaks, intently and unblinkingly. But he doesn't look up to her eyes.

"And yet all the good intentions in the world didn't save you," he responds, finally, at length. His voice is low. "To do anything at all - it takes a combination of intention and talents. And I can have the former by the shuttleload, but that doesn't create the latter." He shakes his head, very slightly, not wanting to dislodge her hand. "The man who dies while trying and failing to do good is worth very little. That's the joke, I suppose. Outsize ambitions for a sad little man."