The man’s geniality touched Covenant. Already he regretted his duplicity. But shame always made him angry, stubborn—a leper’s conditioned reflex.
If shamed, you could apologise and make it right.
Is shame -> anger/stubborn actually a feature of lepers or is the author just being derogatory about lepers?
You think this is strange? Substitute a racial slur for leper and see how it reads.
