Ellerey could see the eyes through the holes in the silk mask, but they told him nothing. He had hardly noticed the eyes of the woman who had stopped him at the corner of the Altstrasse; he did not know whether they were the same. This woman seemed taller; yet there was a familiar ring in her voice. She gazed at him for some moments in silence, and then, standing erect, handed the lantern to one of the men. Behind the mask she smiled. "Your cut-throats, madam, have made a mistake. I have no token," said Ellerey.
"Do any of you know this man?" she asked, turning to her followers.
"A foreigner," growled one. "A soldier," said another.
"A King's man," said a third, "and better put out of the way, if I may advise."
"You would be as Nicolai yonder, under my displeasure," she answered sharply. "Have a care. I shall know how to deal with the first man who disobeys me."
Was this the Queen? Ellerey thought she must be, half-believing he recognized something familiar in her manner. Was this her method of proving his daring before she fully trusted him?
"You have no token?" she said, addressing Ellerey.
"No, madam."
"Yet you went on a secret mission to the Altstrasse to-night?"
"I went openly."