"How goes it, kids?" he asked them.
"Couldn't be better," Hale said.
"Of course not," Lora added.
Hammen's slate eyes moved from the man to the woman. "Are you troubled?"
"This isn't the time to talk about it, not before you and Lad transmit yourself," the girl said quickly.
It wasn't, Hammen admitted to himself. Only now that they had let it slip, he would rest better knowing the whole truth of it.
"Come on," Hammen urged. "It's not as if I wasn't interested."
Hale looked at his wife. "Lora doesn't like Wagner any more."
"Perdition!" said Hammen. "I never liked Wagner. She's growing up."