And there is no faster way to learn the true character of a person than to appear, before them, as someone from whom they believe they have nothing to gain and nothing to fear.

This was, in fact, the entire philosophy on which Clara had built her company, and the reason she made these quiet, plainly-dressed, unannounced visits at all, and it is worth stating plainly, because it is a truth most people spend their lives avoiding.

Everyone is gracious to power.

That is not character; it is calculation, the automatic courtesy that the ambitious extend to anyone who might help or harm them.

A person will be unfailingly warm to their boss, their wealthy client, their powerful in-law, and this warmth reveals precisely nothing about who they are, because it is purchased by the other person’s usefulness.