Vance spoke sharply. "Easy, there, son! Have it your way, for you. For me, while I'm alive and free, I'm not finished." There was, at that, some scattered applause and murmurs of a loud, unintelligible sort. Ben joined the hand-clapping. Kit sat down, flushed and silent for a moment. Then he whispered something to Faith, at his side on a divan. Her head shook. Kit's face became more stony and enraged. The talk around them was now general. But Ben saw, before returning to his computations, what the rest missed, saw it because he was worried by Kit's unexpected defeatism and rage. He had been about to speak to Kit, before leaving, when he noticed that Kit was staring at Angelica; she was gazing back with bold, excited eyes and a strange, small smile that showed her even teeth. Ben then glanced back at Kit and saw him nod slightly and grin covertly at Angelica. Faith, though she was pretending to be listening to the talk of others, also had noticed the exchange. She was embarrassed. Ben had wanted to help, to interrupt, to try to jolly Kit out of his rage and out of his apparent, and to Ben intolerable, responsiveness to Angelica.
