Could you please be more specific
The men joke quietly, and smile rather than laugh.
How quickly the plague spread
by talking about a swift change in time where death and spreading occurs its is very clear that this is about how quickly the plague spreads
You get to choose whether or not to answer the question since not in person and you wouldn’t be considered rude for not answering the person
A romance language is anything deriving from roman times, so in this case, its French. I hope this helped!