"I ... I did not realise that the community had seen fit to share our conversation."

He was embarrassed, though he endeavored not to show as much. His relationship with his father was complicated, to say the least, and it was something that he would have preferred to keep private. For the sake of Gondor, Denethor's instability must remain hidden.

"As do we all," he noted. They all knew what was on the mind of the enemy. What they needed to know was when they were going to act. "He expects me to return. I do not believe I shall."