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More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.comFore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.comA ROUND UNIVERSE 155conversations with fellow Collective members whom he deemed insufficientlyindependent. His credentials in the area of counseling psychologywere slim, to say the least; he had only an undergraduate degree.But with Rand’s system behind him, Branden felt qualified to promotehimself as an expert. Rand had always enjoyed talking to people abouttheir personal problems, urging them to apply rationality to any problemin life. Now Branden picked up this habit, his authority buttressedby Rand’s obvious respect for him. In tense therapy sessions, duringwhich he paced the room “like a caged tiger,” as one patient remembered,Branden demanded that members of the Collective check theirpremises and root out all traces of irrationality from their thinking. 52Rand was delighted by Branden’s psychological innovations. She beganto openly acknowledge him as her teacher as well as her student, her intellectualheir who would carry her work forward. Even though her novelsdwelled at length on the internal motivations and conflicts of characters,she had always dismissed psychology as “that sewer.” 53 Now she couldlearn about the field without actually reading Freud, or the other psychologistswhom she freely castigated. Armed with Branden’s theoriesshe became even more confident in her judgments about other people.Still fascinated by his mentor, Branden listened with rapt attention toher memories of the past, her tales of struggle, her frustrations with theworld. He offered her what her passive, withdrawn husband could not:both intellectual stimulation and emotional support. Rand began to talkof him as her reward, the payoff for all she had gone through.Although it started innocently enough, there had always been a currentof flirtation between the two. Rand made no secret of her esteemfor Nathan, openly identifying him as a genius. His face, she said, washer kind of face. The Brandens’ marriage only briefly papered over thegrowing attraction between Ayn and Nathan. The subtext of their relationshipspilled into the open during a long car ride to Canada in thefall of 1954. The two couples and another friend had taken a road trip tovisit Barbara’s family. On the ride home Barbara watched her husbandand Rand holding hands and nuzzling in the backseat of the car. Sickwith jealousy and anger, she confronted him afterward. Nathan deniedeverything. He and Rand had a special friendship, nothing more. Hissentiment was genuine. Nathan worshipped Rand, but it was Barbara hehad chosen, or so he consciously believed.