James Black didn't speak purely because he had been taciturn and reticent since childhood.
Jane Sampson's appetite wasn't big, and James Black's culinary skills weren't that great. The noodles he served were too much, and after eating half, Jane Sampson could only stir them with her chopsticks, not daring to put the chopsticks down and say she couldn't eat anymore in front of James Black, but she really couldn't swallow another bite. Her eyes rolled around in James Black's bowl, and she began to weigh her options, wondering if dumping her uneaten noodles into James Black's bowl would have more serious consequences, or if laying down her chopsticks and admitting she was full would be worse.
If only she had known she'd spend such a long time inside the room before, she could have served herself and avoided this awkward impasse.
