Looking at him just long enough to catch that surprise, Benedict averts his gaze: it's the first time he's ever laid it all out like this for someone, and he shouldn't be surprised himself that this would be the reaction.

"After," he continues, but with a long pause-- he isn't actually certain how long it was-- "some time, a friend vouched for me. He was trusted, so I was given another chance. I started over. A footsoldier."

More or less,

"...and when Byerly was Ambassador, I approached him. Asked for a job. He made me his assistant." A shrug, more dismissive than the words it accompanies, "and saved my life."