"Funny, I thought that would be your type," Herbert comments dryly, but then his expression changes with a sudden thought. "Though if she's so annoying, you'd probably be doing your friend a favor by, you know, stealing her or whatever it is you do with girls."

Yeah, subtle and sly, Herbert is not, not about this sort of thing. "Then you could break them up. Do you think that would be hard?" he asks hopefully.