He squinches up his face a little, thinking, and then says, "I shall try. But I should begin with how we came to be friends. Our fathers were brothers; our mothers were sisters. We both lost our fathers around the same time. Things were... Britain was a mess. At any rate, my mother sent me to my foster mother, as we had next to nothing. I think I was nine? Bors and Lionel, in a similar situation, were sent along as support for me -- my father was the elder, and I think there was some thought that we might win back our holdings, eventually. In some ways, we had no choice but to be friends. There were not really other children at Brocélien, and they were family anyhow."