but what they want is surely for him to just have a few friends his own age, since they presumably don't want him having one of those just yet anyway. Well maybe they do in the sense of a few dates and being able to be socially pleasant in those situations, but don't actually want him getting serious with anyone. So adding an attractive French girl into his home, where they will see each other constantly, seems brave. They do know that he is able to have a relationship of sorts with Ginty, whether they like her or not, so they must know he is attractive and seems to get on OK in that circumstance - you'd have though they'd not be encouraging that side of social graces any further, but instead trying to get him to make more friends his age - I'd have thought team sports or drama groups or any number of other things (that he would hate, but that wouldn't stop them trying!).

or another thought that I've just had, perhaps they *do* rather want him to get a bit more experience with women and think it might be expected of him; maybe they have a double standard for boys or girls about what's acceptable before marriage, and are a bit worried that he might be a bit too conservative, rather than worrying that he is likely to get up to too much.

rs