madame was sullen , bart was distraught , derek was distracted , ashley thought he was wasting all their time , casey and alex knew more gossip than any human beings should be capable of knowing , claire was flustered and could barely get a word in without ashley talking over her , and aunt chessie was immensely amused by the whole situation ( and had no qualms about expressing either her amusement or her personal opinions on everyone present ) .