He lifted his head, looked at the woman sprawled dramatically on the floor, and covered his eyes with his hand—partly from genuine inability to watch, partly to hide his smile.
"Woman," he said, his voice rough with sleep but tinged with amusement, "what exactly are you doing awake at this ungodly hour? Playing some kind of elaborate prank? Hmm?"
[She covered me with a blanket. She pinched my nose. Now she's face-planted on the floor. I honestly don't know whether to be touched or concerned.]
He couldn't quite decide if he was angry or entertained.
"Hehe!" Lily's muffled voice came from the floor. "I'm... I'm looking for ants! Yes! Ants! I heard there were ants and I was trying to—"
"Do you honestly think," Jacob interrupted, sitting up fully now and fixing her with an incredulous look, "that the housekeeping staff in Cross Mansion are incompetent enough to let ants crawl all over the carpets?"
[That's the best excuse she could come up with? Ants? Really?]
