He knew that Krool had heard Byng's words, for he was sitting opposite the double doors, and had seen the malicious eyes light up.

Instantly, however, that light vanished.

They all might have been wooden men, and Krool but a wooden servitor, so mechanical and concentrated were his actions.

He seemed to look at nobody; but some of them shrank a little as he leaned over and poured the brown, steaming liquid and the hot milk into the bowls.

Only once did the factotum look at anybody directly, and that was at Byng just as he was about to leave the room.
Then Barry Whalen saw him glance searchingly at his master's face in a mirror, and again that baleful light leaped up in his eyes.
When he had left the room, Barry Whalen said, impulsively: "Byng, it's all damn foolery your keeping that fellow about you.