The woman thanked him, her eyes penetrant, keenly intelligent, even a trifle mocking.

One would have said she was weighing this strange man in the balance of judgment, was finding him of sterling stuff, yet was perhaps cherishing a hope, not untinged with malice, that some day a turn of fate might humble him.

The Master seemed to sense a little of this, and took a milder tone.
"I must compliment you on one thing, madam," said he, with just the wraith of a smile.

"Your acting has been perfection itself.

And the fortitude with which you have borne the discomfort of that mask for more than a week, to achieve your ends, cannot be too highly praised." "Thank you," she replied.