Eurycleia climbed the stairs and burst into the room of Penelope. “The master is back. He has driven out every one of the suitors.” Penelope could not believe it at once.
Still her heart drew her and she went down. A stranger was sitting beside the firelight. The face was unfamiliar, and something about it caught at her.
She did not go near but sat down opposite him. For a long time she studied that face without a word. They were eyes that had been deceived many times in twenty years.