A CoK question

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Hi there,

I have a question about a scene in A conspiracy of Kings and I thought y'all could help me out with your snazzy new paperbacks! 

So, remember the scene where Sophos says, "Congratulate me, my king, I am to be married!"  and then Irene asks if Helen is to be Sophos' subject?  I still can't manage to work that scene out in my head. 

 When I first read it, I was a little miffed at Irene, since she had already made it clear that she was taking no part in the ceremony, but still jumped in to ask that rather pointed question.
 
Then when I reread it, I noticed that that Gen sort of looked from Irene to Sophos, as if choosing what to do, and then chose to follow Irene’s line of questioning.  He had to know how easily flustered Sophos is, and could have averted the situation, maybe saying something like, “We can discuss all that later, but for now, Congratulations!!” 
 
Then, my sister, 1221bookworm, pointed out to me that Gen and Irene were expecting that Helen would already have told Sophos about the implications of their engagement, so they were expecting Sophos to understand what he was saying. 
 
Lastly, we remembered that Helen tried to talk to Sophos, but he kept interrupting her.
 
So what do you all think?? Am I missing something important? (which is very likely) Do you have any other observations?

Thanks, booksrgood4u