He turned his head, and Stella saw that he was not blind.

For his eyes took her in, for the moment appraised her.

Then with ungainly, tortoiselike movements, he arose.
"I am her excellency's servant," he said, in hollow, quavering accents.
"I live or die at her most gracious command." It was abjectly spoken, yet she shuddered at the sound of his voice.

Her whole being revolted against holding any converse with the man.

But she forced herself to persist.