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let alone

Milad333

Senior Member
Persian, Tajiki, Dari
Hi
Unfortunately, I can't get the meaning of the colored sentence, would you please help me with that?

"“People see things,” she said, and leaned forward in her seat as if she was telling me a secret. “And people talk. I’d be careful of the company you keep. I’ve heard they read books they shouldn’t.”
My lips quivered, and I hoped I hadn’t given away my irritation, let alone my annoyance at the implication that the “company” I kept was less than desirable, perhaps even traitorous."(Traitor - V.S Alexander)
I hoped I hadn’t given away my irritation, let alone my annoyance at the implication……
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I hoped I hadn’t given away my irritation, or – even worse – my annoyance at the implication……
I hoped I hadn’t given away my irritation, let alone my annoyance at the implication……
=
I hoped I hadn’t given away my irritation, or – even worse – my annoyance at the implication of annoyance……
In the first part, she talks about his irritation, she expresses her real unhappiness, but in the second part, I do not understand what she means. That is, the amount of annoyance that she should have pretended to have ??
I don’t know what you mean.

… and I hoped the look on my face hadn’t made it obvious how irritated I was. Even more so, I hoped the look on my face hadn’t made it obvious how annoyed I was at the implication that the “company” I kept was less than desirable, perhaps even traitorous.
The writer's use of "let alone" there puzzles me.

Let alone... is similar to much less...

I was too tired to walk, let alone run/much less run.

I can't really grasp the difference between irritation and annoyance at an implication. The writer seems to suggest that annoyance is a lot stronger than irritation, and the character is afraid that she may have betrayed her irritation, or even her annoyance. I would have expressed it differently.
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