The night before Rearden’s trial, he finally confronts his worthless brother. Rearden says that his brother’s fate is no longer his concern. He realizes that for years, his silent consent has enabled his family to endlessly inflict injustice on him. Rearden, the victim, now withdraws his sanction. He’ll no longer accept his family’s moral standards or their condemnations.
At his trial, Rearden refuses to recognize the court’s right to try him. He doesn’t regard his sale to Ken Dannager as a crime, and therefore he volunteers no defense. He states that he’s proud of every penny he has earned by means of his productive effort in competition on an open market. He knows that he has committed no crime. Rearden Metal is his invention; morally, he has the right to sell as much of it as he pleases. He’s being tried on charges that violate his rights and leave him no grounds on which to rationally defend himself. Therefore, he refuses to attempt a defense. He refuses to participate in a charade that makes it look like he has rights. The crowd agrees with Rearden, and the judges decide to fine him and suspend the sentence.
Rearden goes to visit Francisco d’Anconia at his hotel suite in New York. In expressing his admiration for Francisco’s intellect, he asks how Francisco can waste his extraordinary talents on a promiscuous hedonism. Francisco responds by discussing the meaning of sex. Francisco says that, regardless of the image he has publicly cultivated, he has slept with only one woman in his life. Rearden believes him. Rearden tells Francisco that he ordered a supply of copper from d’Anconia Copper for a supremely important customer (Taggart Transcontinental), and Francisco is stunned. He reaches for the phone but stops, and Rearden senses that Francisco has the power to prevent some action from transpiring but won’t. Francisco swears to Rearden by the woman he loves that he is Rearden’s friend. However, several days later, when Rearden learns that Ragnar Dannesjköld sunk the ships bearing his supply of copper, he knows that he must avoid Francisco or he’ll kill him on sight.
