Good catch, H. That seems to suggest so, though I don't know if it just isn't Kellhus being who he needs to be at that moment, like Serwa explains later on. I really don't think Esme broke the White-Luck, Kelmommas did. Just doing what Kellhus does best, tell you what you want to hear.
ETA: dying to have my own copy of TGO. So need to do a slow re-read and dissect this book.