She doesn't have to be a consulting detective either to see that Holmes and Watson are rather close. Like brothers, she tells herself, but 'brothers' isn't exactly a safe topic, either. Not when her brother was close to his flatmate, and not when Mr. Holmes's brother has made her swear not to comment on any close attachments Mr. Holmes might make. She doesn't find it unappealing, nor any particular hardship; her brother was a good, kindhearted man who didn't deserve to die in war, and Holmes and Watson are good, kindhearted men who deserve all the happiness they can get. All that her brother lost, surely.

So she doesn't pay any mind to how upset Watson is, beyond the immediate need for concern.

"What is it, Doctor?" Now, as for things she doesn't normally approve of, it seems as good an occasion as any to make an exception, and she crosses to the sideboard to get Watson a brandy.