In the course of several hours of one evening, three men discover that Dagny is Rearden's lover. First is Francisco, who has made it clear that, despite his playboy image, he has loved only one woman. Second is Eddie, who has never permitted himself to acknowledge his full feelings for Dagny. Third is the unidentified Taggart worker, who has no discernible connection to Dagny. Francisco, though he hopes to win Dagny again after the looters' world collapses, quietly accepts her relationship with Rearden. Eddie, her childhood friend, is confronted with a painful self-discovery: She means much more to him than a close friend and a respected boss. But the reaction of the Taggart worker seems inexplicable. "What's the matter with you?" Eddie cries on observing the worker's response to his news.
This chapter raises many more questions that deepen the mystery Rand is creating. Why does this Taggart track-hand rush off in distress after hearing that Dagny is sleeping with Hank Rearden? Why does this worker, amid all the noble characters in this book, have a face that Eddie describes as never having experienced pain or fear or guilt? Who is this man that Eddie trusts and to whom he confides the railroad's most important information? Is it merely coincidence that Eddie identifies to him the men whom Dagny considers indispensable to the survival of American industrial civilization, and those men retire and disappear shortly after? Why does he ceaselessly pump Eddie for information regarding the railroad but never divulge anything about himself?
The mystery of the disappearing thinkers begins to center on this unnamed man, though neither Dagny nor Eddie is aware of it yet. In this scene, the worker learns that Quentin Daniels has been rebuilding the motor and that Dagny is desperate to save him from the destroyer. It will take Dagny almost a week to reach Utah. We will soon learn whether her fears of the destroyer are justified.
