Aral has long since had a policy of meeting rumor and censor over the subject by aggressively dropping the truth. Scandalized and deeply uncomfortable, most Barrayarans let the accusations die immediately after. Ivan, first hand, gets to see how effective it is.

Instead, he watches his nephew's face as he works through those thoughts. He makes a "pass it" gesture at the bottle.

"About that.. You'd both done quite a good job recently."