the flash

"He has the additional charm of that cool air or detachment that people have who have given up the struggle. But now and then, when disturbed, something flashes behind it, like lightning in a fair sky, which shows that at some deeper level he is far from peaceful. Perhaps in a stronger light he would show some signs of delinquescence, but the fading, still warm, light from the gallery treats him gently."

—from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams