She laughs a little too much at that. (Entirely too much from the pious point of view, but more importantly too much from a having-a-headache point of view.) Too much and too giddily: Mary can hear it in her voice. She sits up and bites her lip.

"James--James? I should tell you...I..." She creases the linens between her fingertips. "I did not really have a headache. Well, I did, but not very much. Mostly I...I had a visitor. From...eh bien, from Milliways."