Ned's delight is tangible for him, and that is a relief.

"I remembered what you said," he says, "about Beauty loving the Beast for what he is, not what he might be. If he changed at her will, this is harmful to him; to change at his own would distress her. I thought this was the best solution."

He may not have written the story out yet, but he knows how he intends to finish it.

"Should I tell you the ending?"