"It has already begun, Mr. Hillard."
"So I am the one who is to be unmasked? Well, I have only the mask nature gave to me. I wish she had been more liberal. But I shall see what can be done with it."
"Is there any mask quite so terrible, quite so deceptive, as this very mask nature gives us? Can it not lie adroitly, break hearts, overthrow empires? You can judge a character by this mask sometimes, but never the working of the mind behind it." She resumed her seat on the divan.
"I wish I could read yours."
"And much good it would do you." She smiled, rather ruefully Hillard thought.
He took note of her teeth, and felt a sudden tinge of regret. One may disguise the face and hair, but the teeth are always the same. Two lower teeth on the right side appeared to be gone; the others were firm and glistening white. It was a pity, for a woman's teeth are as much her glory as her hair.
"I am curious to learn what you brought for dinner."
He enumerated the delicacies.
"You have evidently studied your Lucullus," she said.
Silence. The ruddy light on her hair fascinated him.