You _were_ married, after all! Yes, it can be, it can be! A woman may love one man--even though he could give her only a bed of husks! And a man may love a woman, too--one woman! I had not known." I could only gaze at her, now more in perplexity than ever.

Alike her character and her moods were beyond me.

What she was or had been I could not guess; only, whatever she was, she was not ordinary, that was sure, and was to be classified under no ordinary rule.

Woman or secret agent she was, and in one or other identity she could be my friend or my powerful enemy, could aid my country powerfully if she had the whim; or damage it irreparably if she had the desire.

But--yes--as I studied her that keen, tense, vital moment, she was woman! A deep fire burned in her eyes, that was true; but on her face was--what?
It was not rage, it was not passion, it was not chagrin.