Adam's Breed

That night, while Maddalena slept, Gian-Luca burnt Doria's books. He burnt them deliberately, one by one, and the pound notes that Doria had given him he burnt also; and the flames that consumed these things were less searing than the anger within his heart.

Now he no longer felt weary and indifferent, he was terribly alive with this anger. It shone in his eyes, it tightened his muscles; he felt young with the will that he had to hate, and as he watched Doria's verses burning he leant forward and spat into the fire.