Nobody was around.

So I made bold to pick up the fiddle and have a little spiel.

I ain't done any harm, and there's nothing you-all can hold me on." For ten seconds nobody answered.

Nobody spoke or moved.
Then, Gavin Brice's face went crimson with sudden fury at his own outwitting.

He recalled the musical afternoon at Roustabout Key which his presence had interrupted, and Roke's fanatical devotion to Hade.
"I begin to understand," he said, his voice muffled in an attempt to subdue his anger.