She felt that he complimented her in begging her
to make him known to Quisante; and this office also she was able to
perform with pleasure, because they had played fair. Hope was high in
her that night, not merely for this contest, not merely now for her
husband's career, but for her life and his, for her and him themselves.
If her old fears had been proved wrong, if in face of temptation he had
not yielded, if now by honourable means he had made good his footing,
things might go better in the future, that constant terror vanish, and
there be left only what she admired and what attracted her. For they had
kept to the rules square enough; Quisante had played fair.
She heard Sir Winterton tell him so in a friendly phrase, just touched
with a pleasantly ornate pompousness; eagerly looking, she saw Quisante
accept the compliment just as he should, as a graceful tribute from an
antagonist, as no more than his due from anyone who knew him. She smiled
to think that she could write and tell Aunt Maria that Sandro was
improving, that even his manners grew better and better as success gave
him confidence, and confidence produced simplicity.
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