[There was something very... inspiring about her when she spoke, reiterating her intentions to look after him and Max come Hell or high water. On occasion these things could go unsaid, but right now, it--

Well, it was nice to know, relieving.

But then she had to hit the nail on the head and he cleared his throat after the briefest of nervous laughs]

Jack, yeah. He's... really smart. I want to take him to uni, let them admit him and see what he can do...

[And there was more to that, but she had only mentioned he'd been thinking about Jack. The exact kind of thinking could be... well, somewhat covered up. In this respect, Vastra was completely right. Talking about his love life with Jack would be... difficult to pry out of him.]

How should I approach calling off this... thing with Adele, then? I haven't formally proposed but everyone's just waiting for it...