Maelle is. Yes, she is. Which means the fragility he showed Sciel earlier, at the park, is something he can't allow again. He can't break, for Maelle's sake.

He breathes in, quick and deep through his nose, lets it out again slowly. "I'm not sure that's true anymore."

Gustave thinks back to his own conversation with Verso, what they'd talked about. What they hadn't. "I told him he didn't need to explain his relationship with Renoir to me. Maybe he'll be willing to talk to you about it, I don't know. But I can't imagine being in a place with this with my father and not speaking to him, no matter how estranged we might be."