And you a lady with such marked...advantages. He suspects, given her liveliness so far, that she'd savor a few well-placed double entendres, but this is a notoriously humorless era of Barrayaran history; he has no great desire to offend the lady and end up hanging by his toenails in Piotr Vorkosigan's war tent. So instead, gallantly, and without addressing either advantages or things that can be raised, he responds, "Byerly Vorrutyer."

And then, pressing her hand between his, "You are a breath of fresh air, Sonia. I had started to think that smiling was disallowed here."